A lady, Stella Ndoma, has appealed to the police to find the killers of her father, Chief Mbayin Ndoma, and bring them to book.
The 19-year-old lade made the appeal on Friday in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, while speaking with newsmen.
Assailants murdered Chief Ndoma on August 3, 2022 his hometown, Orimekpang, in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that at the time of his murder, Ndoma was the traditional ruler of Orimekpang.
The daughter alleged that her father’s killers were some youths suspected to be cultists that he sent on exile from the community.
Ndoma said: “I am shocked when I learnt that my father who was a traditional ruler in Orimekpang community was shot dead by hoodlums.
“Not even a single person has been arrested in connection with his murder.”
Narrating how her father was killed, she said Chief Ndoma got a phone call at 12:20am from an unknown caller who asked him to leave the community immediately, claiming that some assassins were coming after him.
She said immediately her father left the house, the assassins stormed his residence and harassed his wife, demanding to know his whereabouts.
She said: “My stepmother responded that her husband was not at home.
“They spent some time in our house waiting for the traditional ruler to return.
“At about 6am, my father emerged from the community secondary school, where he hid, but the assailants dragged him back to the school.”
Ndoma added that it was the sound of gunshots that made her stepmother to raise the alarm that her husband was yet to return home after leaving, following the phone call he received.
She said that youths and community vigilantes mobilised and went to the secondary school only to find the corpse of the traditional ruler there.
She said: “His assailants left a note on the corpse with the inscription: ‘This is the beginning of war between the community and us. Any man who squeezes bitter leaf, his hands will be bitter.’”
Ndoma added that another note read: “Anyone who intends to dare us, should wait for his turn.”
The spokesperson of the Cross River State Police Command, SP Irene Ugbo, confirmed the incident and said investigation into the matter had started.
Ugbo said: “Police is already liaising with leaders of the community to find a way forward on how to apprehend the killers of the traditional ruler.”
