A traditional ruler, HRH Umazi Ibo Ubani in Umuihe Community,Akaeze in the Ivo Local government area of Ebonyi state was last Friday murdered by suspected gunmen.
The Community has since been thrown into panic.
It was gathered that the gunmen invaded the community with heavy shooting which spurred fear and confusion in the area as members of the community were reportedly running for dear lives.
The Coordinator of Akaeze Development Centre, Chinasa Okorie, confirmed the incident on Sunday evening, stating that the incident occurred at about 10 p.m. on Friday.
He condemned the killing of the monarch, stressing that it will be very difficult to get a traditional ruler of his calibre again.
According to him, the monarch, who is in his 60s, was bold, fearless and intelligent, adding that his wealth of experience would be greatly missed by the community, the Local Government and the state at large.
“Around 10 pm last Friday, I received a call that there was shooting in the house of our traditional ruler, that after the shooting, it was discovered that our traditional ruler had been killed and that is the traditional ruler of Umuihe Autonomous Community, Akaeze, HRH Eze Umazi Ibo Ubani.
“This is a great loss to the community and Akaeze at large because he is a man of integrity, a man that would be difficult to replace because the man is intelligent, he is bold and he is fearless.
“The man does not know corruption because, at all times, his integrity is always seen. I am very sad about his killing. It is a great loss to Akaeze Development Centre where I am the leader, Ivo Local Government and Ebonyi State.
“His voice is loud in Ebonyi State. He is a first-class traditional ruler. The killing is a very bad incident”, he stated.
Okorie said only security agencies can ascertain the remote and immediate cause of the incident and those behind it.