Slain Military Couple Family Laments Over Threat To  Daughter’s Life, Petitions Buhari, IGP

More than five months after the news broke of the gruesome killing of army couple, Warrant Officer A.M Linus (rtd) and Private Gloria Matthew, no arrests have yet been made, even as President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the military and security agencies to ensure that those involved in the killing were apprehended and brought to book.

A.M Linus, a retired Master Warrant Officer in the army and his wife, Private Gloria Matthew, were reportedly shot and beheaded on Saturday, 30th April 2022 in orlu, Imo state on their way to tie the nuptial knot in Matthew’s hometown.

After beheading the couple, the gunmen were said to have called their family members to mock them.

A gory video of the incident showed the gunmen putting the heads on the victims’ chests after the incident.

Buhari has called on all  leaders – community, regional and national –  “to speak with one voice to show that the entire country is one against this cruel and barbaric act of voice”, warning that this is unacceptable.

However, the family of Mr. and Mrs. Sunday Ehibudu of Amiyi Obinohia Village in Isiukwuato Local Government Area of Abia State has sent a Save our Soul message to President Mohammadu Buhari and Inspector General of Police, Alkali Usman Baba over alleged invasion and destruction of their home by suspected security agents.

Narrating their ordeal on Thursday, September 1, 2022, Elder Ehibudu said some armed security men broke into his home Wednesday, August 30, 2022 and said they were looking for my daughter, Happiness Ehibudu whom they claimed knew something about the military couple who were killed and beheaded on their way for wedding.

The distraught elderly man said he was shocked at the accusation, wandering how his daughter could have been linked to the infamous unknown gunmen who have been ravaging every part of the country.

He said the invading security men claimed that my daughter boarded the same vehicle with which the army couple travelled to Imo State, claiming further that investigators looked at the vehicle’s manifest and identified the name Happiness Ehibudu as one of the passengers.

“The armed security men threw caution in the wind and started shooting indiscriminately in my compound. As people scampered for safety, the men set fire on my house, destroying a section”, he narrated.

Elder Ehibudu explained that his daughter was innocent of the allegation, adding that Happiness had travelled overseas for a conference organized by World Council of Churches (WCC).

Maintaining there was no iota of truth in the allegations against his daughter, Ehibudu appealed to the Presidency as well as Police authorities to wade into the matter and save his family and daughter who is still abroad.

“I’m afraid our lives are all in danger. These armed men didn’t look like they came to make arrests. I’m afraid my daughter would have been killed if they had met her here. The threat is real, and our lives cannot be guaranteed if they come back. They could even hunt my daughter to get her wherever she is”, the old man sobbed.

Recall that the Nigerian Army accused IPOB and its military wing, Eastern Security Network of carrying out the dastardly act.

But in a swift reaction, IPOB through a statement signed by spokesperson, Emma Powerful, said it had no hands in the murder of the soldiers, an incident it described as an abominable in Igbo tradition.

“No true Igbo will hurt an in-law, how much more a married daughter (Ada) in Igbo land. Even the ancestors will avenge such wickedness.

“Before the army jumped into their jaundiced conclusion that such an abominable act was masterminded by IPOB, what investigations did they carry out to substantiate their claims? When have gunmen or criminals recruited by evil politicians in connivance with the same security agencies in their desperation to demonize IPOB, become IPOB members?” the group queried.

“We cannot kill our sister who is about to marry but those who killed them were those Nigerian government and its security agencies, especially the military and DSS created to demonize IPOB and ESN but your evil deeds are now hunting you.

“These agents of death some of whom we have made their identities public severally are behind the killings of these soldiers, not IPOB or ESN operatives. We are letting the world know that Nigeria Army and police are confused institutions. They are beclouded to see the truth because of their bias against us and delivering good jobs correctly.

”IPOB is, and will remain a non-violent movement. No amount of blackmail by the Nigeria Government and its compromised security agencies can make us change our resolve to restore Biafra through non-violence.”