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TRANQUILITY is yet to return to the embattled Izombe community in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State, which on Thursday descended into violence following confrontation between youths of the community and some security personnel.
The oil-producing community, which shares boundary with the famous Oguta Lake, is host to a number of multinational oil corporations.
Fear-stricken indigenes fled their residences following the eruption of violence and have begun to count their losses occasioned by the burning of houses and properties which ran into millions of naira, just as they are yet to come out from hiding for fear of arrest by security personnel who have taken over their ancestral abode.
Sunday Tribune observed that there was heavy presence of armed security personnel patrolling all nooks and crannies of the community, while markets and shops were closed with movement of vehicles restricted.
An indigene of the community recalled with trepidation the misunderstanding between two youths of the community that sparked off the violence.
According to him, over twenty houses belong to innocent residents. He added that it was an issue between two factions of the boys involved in oil deals that resulted in one of the factions inviting the military against the other faction.
He added that the security personnel upon arrival at the scene in the village called Umuokwu in Izombe community allegedly ordered the boys from the opposition faction to lie down and they allegedly began to torture the boys.
According to him, one of the boys identified as Chukwunyere Iherue of Umuokwu-Izonbe, who was being tortured, got up and started running in a bid to escape from the military.
This resulted in one of the security personnel gunning him down.
The source disclosed that this action of the security personnel enraged the youths in the community.
Meanwhile, the security personnel were reported to have abandoned the dead body and fled to the house of the traditional ruler, HRH Eze Muforo, after the reported killing, but the youths of the area moved en masse to Eze’s house where they confronted the security personnel.
