TheCable

Obinwanne Iwu, identified by the police as an escaped inmate, has been beaten to death by a mob in Imo state.

Mike Abattam, Imo police spokesperson, who confirmed the incident on Monday, said Iwu was trying to enforce the sit-at-home order of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Abattam said residents of Umuagbavo Oru Ahiara in Ahiazu Mbaise LGA of Imo were going about their lawful businesses on Monday, when the deceased and some other persons alleged to be members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) — the security outfit of IPOB — came to enforce the sit-at-home order.

The police spokesman said the harassment did not go down well with the residents, who resisted the gang.

He said the mob caught Iwu, tied his hands behind his back, while other members in his group fled the scene.

In the process, he said the suspect was beaten to death before the police patrol team arrived at the scene.

“One Obinwanne Iwu, 34 years, a native of Ahiara in the same local government area who is an escapee of Imo Correctional Centre, Owerri, went to the market with his gang trying to enforce a sit-at-home order of the proscribed IPOB/ESN terror group,” Abattam said.

“They were shouting at the top of their voices that ‘today is Monday and everybody must obey the sit at home order’.

“Efforts made by the police patrol team arrest the perpetrators proved abortive as they all fled the scene on sighting the patrol team.”

He added that Rabiu Hussaini, Imo commissioner of police, has directed that the suspects must be handed over to the police for proper investigation.

TheCable had reported that commercial activities returned to major parts of Owerri, the Imo capital, on Monday, weeks after IPOB declared the sit-at-home order.

IPOB, on July 30, ordered a sit-at-home in the south-east every Monday until Nnamdi Kanu, its leader, is released from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).

The group, however, later announced a suspension of the directive, but parts of the south-east had remained deserted on Mondays, despite the reversal of the order.