Nollywood superstar Osita Iheme, popularly known as Pawpaw, lost his elder brother, Prince Iheme, in a shootout on Friday, December 9.
He was killed alongside a policeman by gunmen enforcing a sit-at-home order in some parts of Owerri, Mbaitoli, and other areas in Imo State.
According to Punch, the shooters who also macheted the state’s Commissioner for Solid Minerals, Martin Eke, rode in Tundra work cars and fired randomly, causing bystanders to flee for cover.
Businesses were forced to close early as a result, and it was reported that highways were desolate as drivers fled and abandoned their cars.
Narrating how the gunmen who wore black killed a policeman at 7Up junction in Orji, an eyewitness told the publication;
“They just killed a policeman now. They opened fire on them and were shouting, ‘There is sit-at-home. We have asked you to go home. Stay indoors.”
Another eyewitness said;
“I just escaped death now. They stopped before us and shot in the air and asked us to go home. They didn’t shoot at us maybe because I was in the midst of some elderly women.”
The escaping gunmen targeted the convoy of Akarachi Amadi, the APC candidate for Mbaitoli/Ikeduru Federal Constituency, near Ubommiri in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State, while firing repeatedly towards Nkwo Orji market before running towards Okigwe Road.
The gunmen who allegedly macheted the state commissioner for solid minerals then shot and murdered Prince Iheme in an instant.
Another witness said;
“This attack is politically motivated. We just finished at one campaign rally ground and were heading to Ubommiri. Our convoy was attacked at Amawuihe before Ubommiri.
Prince Iheme was riding in the same vehicle with the commissioner for solid minerals. Prince Iheme who is Pawpaw’s elder brother was killed on the spot. The commissioner who was sworn in two weeks ago was cut badly. He has just been rushed to a hospital. They were driving in a Ford SUV. I pray he makes it.”
