- Lifeless body of Chief Security Officer, CSO Community Secondary School, Obukpa, Nsukka Enugu state was found inside bush on Tuesday
- Late Mr. Ozioko was said to have been murdered by hoodlums who came to steal school equipment
- Students, teachers in palpable fear, as insecurity continues to heighten in the state
Security agents and indeed community leaders are currently running from pillar to post in Obukpa community in Nsukka local government area of Enugu state following the alleged killing of security personnel at public secondary school in the area.
Mr. Joseph Ozioko, the Chief Security Officer, CSO of Community Secondary School, Obukpa, Nsukka local government area of Enugu state was found dead in the afternoon of Tuesday, January 2, few metres away from the school compound.
WITHIN NIGERIA findings showed that the alleged murder of Mr. Ozioko was not unconnected with the growing insecurity in the council area in recent time.
Family member who spoke to our reporter under anonymity explained that ” my brother Joseph went to his place of work on Monday evening by 6pm. Normally he was supposed to come back by 8am the following day as he was on night duty. By 12pm he was yet to be seen by his family members. We called his phone several times but his number was switched. We continued to be shocked because his number can never be off even in the midnight as he regularly made sure his phone battery did not go down.”
Narrating further, the brother said that few hours later, his family members went to Community Secondary School, Obukpa where Mr. Ozioko went for night security duty but they couldn’t see him there.
“Initially we thought he has been kidnapped by hoodlums. We were already waiting for a call for ransom. Even when students came on Tuesday, January 21, it was a topic of discussion as nobody knew his whereabouts. Everybody, teachers and students were in palpable fear, feeling that their safety and security are no longer guaranteed in the school.”
Narrating further, the brother said that ” few minutes later, the body of Mr. Ozioko was found inside bush at the back of the school. He might have pursued some criminal elements who came to steal some school equipment into the bush and they beat him to death in the bush.”
Asked if he has had any quarrel with anybody to warrant this brutal killing, the relation told WITHIN NIGERIA that ” Mr. Ozioko is not such a man that goes about looking for anybody’s trouble. He is an easy going person. He has not told us that anybody threatened him.
“More so, he has been doing this job for over a decade now. He usually came back by 8am after night duty. So, his death is not connected to having any trouble with anybody.”
Asked what they suspect might have been the cause of his alleged killing, the brother said that “his death is as a result of increasing incidents of criminal activities in Nsukka in recent times. I believe probably he might sensed that there were criminals in the school who came to steal some equipment and he decided to confront them.
“This is so because the school gate was widely open in the Tuesday morning when he was no longer in the school. This is unusual. Each time students and teachers vacate the school on week days, the school gate remains locked until 7am when teachers and students come to school. ”
Describing the deceased, a close friend who gave his name as Ndubuisi Onah told WITHIN NIGERIA that “he is a very good man to have. When my daughter was married last two years, he played a fatherly role in the event. He is an easy going man. He is not into dirty deals with these criminals that have taken over our environment. I have lost a father in friend.”
According to the brother, late Mr. Ozioko’s corpse has been deposited at undisclosed mortuary in Nsukka.
The Enugu state police command is yet to comment on the incident even as the Public Relations Officer of the command, Daniel Ndukwe could not pick his call for confirmation.