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By Tracy Moses
Anambra State has been thrown into mourning and panic following a series of violent attacks by unidentified gunmen, coming just days after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s visit to the state.
The president had commissioned key infrastructural projects amid Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo’s bold declaration that Anambra is one of Nigeria’s safest states.
However, barely a week after that statement, tragedy struck.
On May 14, 2025, Barrister Ifeanyi Illoakasia, a prominent legal practitioner and President-General of Aguleri community in Anambra East Local Government Area, was brutally murdered in what appears to be a targeted assassination.
sources around revealed that Illoakasia was returning from a court session alongside a client and a female colleague when their vehicle was ambushed near the border between Anaocha and Orumba North Local Government Areas. The lawyer, who remained strapped in his seatbelt, was shot dead on the spot.
In the chaos that followed, the client reportedly attempted to flee but was chased down and killed by the assailants in a hail of gunfire. Miraculously, the female lawyer was spared. Witnesses say the attackers left the red Toyota Camry, belonging to the slain lawyer, untouched.
Eyewitness testifies that videos circulating on social media captured the bloody aftermath. Disturbingly, the attack occurred not far from a police checkpoint, yet, no intervention came from security operatives stationed there.
Sources close to the deceased also revealed that Illoakasia had just secured a favorable court ruling for his client. Their assassination took place on the journey back from court.
The late Illoakasia was known not just for his legal prowess but also for his community leadership. About a year ago, he openly endorsed Governor Soludo’s second-term ambition, citing ongoing development in Aguleri under Soludo’s administration.
Barely a day later, on the night of May 15, 2025, violence returned, this time to the governor’s own hometown of Isuofia. Gunmen reportedly launched an assault on the town’s entrance checkpoint, engaging security forces in a fierce gun battle and setting the checkpoint ablaze.
In response, the Anambra State Police Command released a statement vowing to confront the rising wave of insecurity.
The statement was signed by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Anthony Ikenga, on behalf of Commissioner CP Ikioye Orutugu, the statement confirmed that two of the assailants were gunned down during the exchange, though a brave police officer also lost his life in the process.