Woman burnt alive by suspected assassins

From Aloysius Attah , Onitsha
A 77-year-old woman, Elder Mrs. Grace Orizu was roasted
alive on Saturday afternoon when her son’s five-room
bungalow at Little Wood Estate, Obosi in Idemili North
Local Government Area of Anambra state was allegedly
set ablaze by suspected arsonists.
Her nine year old house help, Progress N w a c h u k w u ,
miraculously escaped death as neighbours who thronged
the scene managed to rescue him alive from the kitchen
where he had hidden as the fire rages.
The incident, Daily Sun gathered occurred when the
arsonists believed to be after the life of her second son,
Emeka Orizu who was recently elected as chairman of
Little Wood Estate, Obosi, allegedly sneaked into the
compound at about 3p.m., quietly sprinkled some liquid
substances suspected to be Premium Motor Spirit (PMS)
all over the building, including its roof top and ignited the
fire on it.
When the traditional ruler of Obosi, Igwe Chidubem Iweka
visited the scene yesterday, it was discovered that not
even a pin was recovered from the bungalow as both the
zink, window louvres and all the household items were
consumed by the inferno.
Narrating the incident to Igwe Iweka, Orizu said he left the
house at about 2 p.m. for Ihiala on a condolence visit to
his in-laws only to be called on phone by his wife at about
3.30 p.m. to inform him that somebody told her that their
house was on fire.
Orizu further told the monarch that he noticed some
clandestine movements by some undesirable elements
around the house before he left for the condolence visit. He
said he had already lodged a complaint at the Obosi Police
Station where he even mentioned names of those he
suspected to have set the house on fire.
He said the same persons who are opposing the Igwe are
also after him because shortly after he won an election as
chairman of Little Wood Estate, Obosi, he fired a warning
signal to all the cultists and illicit drug peddlers residing at
the Estate to relocate or he would expose them, as he was
not ready to harbour them in the estate.
He also noted that the opposition approached him and
requested that he should lead their boys to the bush to
drive away Igwe’s land committee members and take over
the control of the lands but he refused on the ground that
the Igwe is the custodian of all the lands in Obosi and that
he would support the traditional ruler’s fight against
cultism, drug trafficking and other forms of criminalities in
the area.
He disclosed that following his resolve to sustain the war
against drug trafficking, the same arsonists who are
working for some influential persons opposing the Igwe,
launched their first attack on him on June 25, 2015 when
they shot at him during a wake-keep, but he escaped
death. He noted that, on the second occasion, they
attacked him again with axe on July 26, 2015 and on
November 1, they trailed him after a thanksgiving
ceremony but he escaped for the third time. According to
him, they now decided to set his house ablaze last
Saturday, December 12 because he had been out of town.
Responding, Igwe Iweka described the incident as a
dastardly act and called on the state government and law
enforcement agencies to investigate the matter with a
view to bringing the culprits to book.