By Our Correspondent
The Leader of Ugborodo community in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State, Chief Sandy Omadeli was on Tuesday reportedly murdered by yet to be identified men.
Our correspondent reports that some unidentified men who pretended to be relatives of the late Omadeli stormed his house located at Akugbe street by Water Resources, along Warri/Sapele Road, Enerhen, near Warri and assassinated him in the early hours of Tuesday.
The deceased, among others had been an active voice in the protest over the misappropriation of huge oil royalty accruing to the community from Chevron Nigeria Limited as well as the yet to be released N3.2 billion coastal Ugborodo Development Fund which have been a subject of crisis.
Local police couldn’t confirm the incident as at press time when our correspondent contacted the Warri Area Commander, ACP Muhd Shaba, but a police authority in Warri who didn’t want his name mentioned confirmed the incident saying investigation is ongoing.
But according to sources, Omadeli, a People Democratic Party, PDP chieftain was aged 77. His birthday celebration was to hold on February 1, before he was reportedly murdered.
It was also gathered that the suspected hired assassins on Tuesday morning around 5am allegedly ‘strangled’ Omadeli to death in his home in Warri.
The source disclosed that the assailants locked up the entire household for hours only for the family members to later raised alarm that their father had been killed ‘silently’ by the young men who had hurriedly left the house.
“They came this morning, some young men who pretended as family members from Ugborodo numbering about 10. They locked his children and wife up in a room. And they went for Papa room and killed him silently, either he was strangulated or they injected him with a chemical and thereafter fled.
“There was no gun shot or injury on him, it is possible they injected him or strangled him to death.
“The incident has been incidented at the Enerhen Police Station as well as State Police Command and police have started investigating the killers, the source added.
Secretary of Ode-Ugborodo Community Development, Mr. Femi Uwawah confirmed the incident, quoting the deceased wife as saying her husband was either suffocated to death or injected with a chemical but added that “we cannot confirm that until the autopsy comes out.”
When contacted on telephone, Delta state Police Commissioner, Ibrahim Zanna said that police was yet to be briefed of the incident.
