By Micheal Chukwuebuka
A brewing chieftaincy crisis has plunged Nkpor community in Idemili North Local Government Area into mourning following the brutal death of an 80-year-old man, Paul Onwualu, who was reportedly among those vying for the community’s Igweship throne.
According to impeccable inside sources, the octogenarian died after being severely beaten by police officers said to have been deployed from the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) in Abuja.
The officers, allegedly accompanied by rivals opposed to Onwualu’s aspiration, stormed his Umusiome Nkpor residence to effect an arrest.
“It was during the process of arresting him that he was beaten into a coma and bundled into a waiting police vehicle before being whisked away to Ogidi police station,” a source disclosed.
“Midway to the station, he kicked the bucket. He was rushed to the Iyi-Enu Mission Hospital in Ogidi, where medical staff on duty confirmed him dead,” the source added.
The deceased’s wife, Anthonia Onwualu, fighting back tears, recounted the harrowing incident, which took place last Thursday.
“On that fateful day, the police, together with some people opposed to my husband’s Igweship ambition, stormed our Umusiome residence. They beat my husband into a coma before taking him away to an unknown destination,” she said.
She added that those opposed to her husband’s candidacy scaled the perimeter fence of their compound “because the gate is always under lock and key.”
Our correspondent gathered that the contentious Igweship tussle is already pending before a High Court, under Suit No. HID/72/2026 at Ogidi.
Efforts to get an official reaction from the state police command proved abortive. Text messages sent to the State Police Public Relations Officer, Tochukwu Ikenga (Superintendent of Police), had not been responded to at the time of filing this report.
The lifeless body of the murdered octogenarian has since been deposited at an undisclosed mortuary, as tension continues to mount in the beleaguered community.
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