By Ben Udechukwu | 22 August 2025
For residents of Orsumoghu, Ihembosi, Ihiala, Ukpor, Azia, Mbosi, and Isseke, life has become a nightmare. The once-vibrant communities in Anambra South, known for their bustling markets and deep cultural heritage, now wear the cloak of fear, following relentless attacks by armed non-state actors commonly referred to as “unknown gunmen.”
From mass killings to kidnappings, forced curfews, and targeted political assassinations, the crime wave has left thousands living in sorrow, while many others flee their ancestral homes.
According to a Punch investigation, attacks across Anambra have become routine. In October 2024, no fewer than 13 people were killed in Nibo during the New Yam Festival, after gunmen stormed two markets, shooting indiscriminately and leaving families shattered.
In Isseke, Ihiala LGA, the violence has been no less terrifying. Sports journalists travelling on the Isseke-Orlu road were ambushed: three killed, one missing, and two police officers murdered. The Punch report also highlighted how these groups operate from well-known hideouts in Ihiala, Orsumoghu, Mbosi, Azia, Ukpor, and neighbouring forests.
In July 2025, tragedy struck again when 10 people were massacred during a meeting in Orumba South. Eyewitnesses recounted how the gunmen demanded to see the group’s minutes book before opening fire on the assembly. Just weeks earlier, a family of four had been wiped out in Isseke in another targeted attack.
Amnesty International adds further weight to the crisis, noting that between 2021 and 2023 alone, at least 1,844 people were killed in the South-East by both state and non-state actors. Many of these deaths are attributed to the very gunmen now ravaging Anambra’s communities.
Perhaps most alarming is the gunmen’s declaration that politics is forbidden in their territory. Politicians, party agents, and community leaders who dare to align with Nigeria’s democratic system are marked as “enemies.”
The ordeal of Mr. Emeka Odidika of Ihembosi illustrates the danger. A two-time Labour Party aspirant for the Anambra House of Assembly, Odidika now serves as Special Personal Assistant to Chief Dr. Ebuka Onunkwo, the Chairman/CEO of Seahorse Lubricant Industries Limited and a senatorial aspirant in the just concluded Anambra South Senatorial By Election.
Gunmen have stormed Odidika’s hometown of several times searching for him. When they failed to find him, he says, they branded him a political target.
“I now live like a fugitive in my own land,” Odidika told Ijele FM, Oraifite. “I pray every day for the government to rise to the occasion and bring these criminals to book, so that Ndi Igbo can freely return home.” – Emeka Odidika stated.
Odidika’s troubles are not new. While serving as an aide to Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, he survived a bloody convoy attack that claimed the lives of several associates. Believing Abuja would offer safety, he relocated permanently, only to later face renewed threats after openly backing Onunkwo’s senatorial ambition.
He claims that among the men after his life is Ifeanyi Eze Okorienta, popularly called “Gentle De Yahoo”, a notorious figure allegedly linked to kidnapping, organ harvesting, and ESN militancy.
When asked by Ben Udechukwu News how he manages to survive under such relentless threats, Odidika sighed deeply before replying:
“I no longer disclose my movements. At this point, nothing matters more to me than staying alive,” he said.
Ordinary citizens share similar tales of helplessness. Farmers in Mbosi and Ukpor abandon their fields for fear of abduction. Traders in Azia close shops early, while families in Ihiala and Ihembosi hold funerals in secret to avoid unwanted attention.
“You cannot even return home for Christmas without disguise,” lamented an elder in Isseke. “Our sons and daughters in the diaspora are afraid of coming back.”
Community leaders say that the once-proud tradition of hosting festivals and town meetings has been replaced by silence. Markets are deserted on enforced sit-at-home days, weddings are postponed indefinitely, and even church services are disrupted by sporadic gunfire.
The growing chorus of voices – from civil society groups, Amnesty International, and traumatised locals – demands urgent government intervention. They call for dismantling the gunmen’s camps, overhauling intelligence operations, and restoring trust in security forces.
Until then, communities like Orsumoghu, Ihembosi, Ihiala, Ukpor, Azia, Mbosi, and Isseke remain under siege, their people trapped between hope and despair. For many, survival now means staying away entirely – running from home, skipping meetings, or abandoning political ambitions – until peace is restored.
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