By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja
Some yet-to-be identified gunmen have shot one Kennedy Igboanugo and three women said to be his two wives and daughter dead in a gruesome attack in Isseke community, Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The four family members were killed by the gunmen who invaded their residence while they were sleeping early last Thursday morning, according to witnesses.
The gunmen left the community immediately after killing the victims.
Anambra Police Command spokesperson, Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the incident in a statement on Friday.
He identified the family as Ichie Kennedy Igboanugo from Ekwuru Isseke (Ichie Akuruoulo 1 of Isseke).
Ikenga said the joint security team has cordoned off the area after the incident while the remains of the victims have been recovered and deposited at the mortuary while investigations continue.
He said, “Following the simultaneous onslaught/joint clearance operations involving the police, military and other security operatives to dislodge the criminal elements and deny them the space to commit havoc in the state, regrettably in the late hours of May 22, 2025, recorded a cowardly gruesome murder of a family of four, including three females and one man, by criminal elements at Isseke, Ihiala Local Government Area.
“Preliminary information revealed that the criminals unprovokedly attacked the elderly man and his family members. The family was later identified as Ichie Kennedy Igboanugo from Ekwuru Isseke (Ichie Akuruoulo 1 of Isseke).
“The bodies of the victims have been recovered and deposited at the morgue while investigations continue.”
He added that the command, while commiserating with the relatives and friends of the victims, is currently working on some clues to arrest the perpetrators.
“The joint security team has also reinforced the area for any untoward situation. Further developments shall be communicated, please,” he added.
The murder of the family of four is the latest in the series of gruesome attacks and killings attributed to so-called unknown gunmen in Anambra State and the South East in general.
Security operatives have attributed the killings to members of secessionist group, the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB.
But members of the group have always denied the claim.
