The Nigeria Police have launched manhunt for suspected killers of a legal practitioner returning from the court after securing bail for a defendant in a murder case in State High Court II located at Nanka, Orumba North Local Government Area (LGA) of Anambra State.
The popular Anambra State-based legal practitioner was identified as Barrister Rolex Ifeanyi Iloakasia. He was also the President General of Aguleri Community.
Sources confirmed that the attackers carried out the brutal killings at the boundary between Nanka in Orumba North LGA and Agulu (Aniocha LGA) along the popular Amawbia-Agulu-Nanka-Ekwulobia-Uga-Akokwa highway on Thursday.
The source noted that Barrister Iloakasia had left the court and entered his car with the client he was defending and just secured his bail when some unknown gunmen double-crossed them at Nanka-Agulu boundary on their way back to Awka and shot him along with the client. The gunmen then immediately left with their motorbike, suggesting a calculated assassination.
Spokesperson for Anambra Police Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga disclosed in a statement on Thursday in Awka that the gunmen also gunned down two others who accompanied the lawyer but one survived.
He said that the three victims were returning from State High Court II when the incident occurred.
He said that the legal practitioner had bailed a defendant in a pending murder case at the Court not knowing that they were trailed as they left the court.
According to the statement, the Commissioner of Police (CP) in Anambra, Ikioye Orutugu, led a team of senior officers, including the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations and others on a visit to the crime scene at Egbebelu village.
The CP was quoted to have ordered an intensive investigation into the incident and deployed tactical and intelligence teams to track down the perpetrators and ensure justice was served.
“The police spokesperson said preliminary investigations suggested that the victims were attacked while returning from the court session, having been trailed and double crossed by the assailants.
“In the course of the preliminary investigations, a red Toyota Camry vehicle, believed to belong to one of the deceased, was recovered from the scene,” Ikenga said.
He said that one of the victims who survived the attack is currently receiving medical treatment at an undisclosed hospital.
“The survivor has been debriefed by the police and has provided crucial information that is aiding ongoing investigations and manhunt operations,” he said.
Originally published in NAN
