A man has been shot dead and beheaded by gunmen in Aba, Abia State.
According to The Nation, the incident occurred at a food/drink joint adjacent to the popular Item hall at St. Michael’s Road by Georges, on Wednesday, May 24, 2023.
Although the reason for the gruesome murder could be not ascertained, sources who claimed to have witnessed the murder attributed it to cult violence.
Eyewitnesses claimed the assailants numbering four alighted from a commercial tricycle, shot at the victim three times on the head, at close range with a pistol, before they beheaded him with a cutlass and fled the scene.
Shop owners and patrons were said to have scampered to safety when the killers stormed the area and fired shots at their targeted victim.
The road was said to have been deserted after the murder as people hurriedly closed their shops to avoid being arrested by the police during a raid.
The deceased was said to have been evacuated by a police team that arrived minutes after the incident.
Source in the area who spoke anonymously said: “From what we later learnt, the young man was said to have ran away from Aba with some people’s money after a transaction that they did with him and returned back some weeks back.
“We learnt that the young man has been trailed by the gang for three days. They trailed him on Monday and Tuesday, but he was able to escape.
“On Wednesday, it was gathered that he received a call from someone who he told where he was. It was learnt that shortly after receiving the call, the gang stormed at the joint where they shot him three times and used a machete that they equally came with to cut his head and ensured that he died before they left.”