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As at Wednesday night, no fewer than 10 homes in Umuagu community in Obowo Local Government Area of Imo State have been razed to the ground by irate youths from neighbouring Umungwa community, after an Umungwa man was beaten to death for allegedly buying a stolen phone.
CrimeFacts gathered that trouble started when the suspected phone thief, simply identified as Izuchi, broke into the house of a Spain returnee and made away with his phones and other valuables.
A local source, Chizitere Agwan told CrimeFacts that the suspected phone thief, Izuchi then sold the phones to an unnamed person from Umungwa community in the same local council area.
The source said that when he was arrested by Umuagu vigilante, the unnamed Umungwa man who allegedly bought the stolen phones from the thief, confessed to buying only one phone and knew nothing about other phones stolen by Izuchi.
Believing he was lying, the local vigilantes, in a bid to extract all the truth, tortured the Umungwa phone-buyer until he became unconscious and later died after all efforts to revive him failed.
The source stated that the death of the buyer instantly triggered a reprisal leading to angry youths of Umungwa community burning down houses at Umuagu and sacking the entire community. He disclosed that as a result of the reprisal attack, many villagers fled their homes by night and we’re yet to return for fear of further attacks.
The source who shared videos of the reprisal attack with CrimeFacts, disclosed that more than 10 houses have been burnt down by the angry youths.
When contacted, the police spokesperson in Imo State, DSP Henry Okoye didn’t respond to phone calls as at press time.
