A councilor representing Ward 2 in the Akuku-Toru Local Government Area, Hon. Sotonye Georgewill is dead. He was brutally murdered on Sunday night at about 7.30pm by unknown gunmen.
The sad incident took place at his Accra Street residence in the Port Harcourt main township.
The deceased councilor was elected to represent the people of Akulga Ward 2 on the platform of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before he decamped to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to the family source, the deceased local parliamentarian and three other persons were sitting at the frontage of his residence, No. 6 Accra Street, Port Harcourt, when he (councilor) received a phone call. And that the discussion seems to center on peace talk.
The source revealed that shortly after the discussion, a vehicle containing about four (4) unidentified persons stopped at the adjacent of the late councilor’s residence, adding that three persons immediately alighted from the vehicle and began to shoot indiscriminately to scare people away.
Eye witness informed this weekly that the councilor was shot at a very close range while escaping. By the time the unidentified gunmen left the scene and help came, the councilor has already gave up the ghost due to excess bleeding. His corpse is now deposited in an undisclosed mortuary.
A reliably and impeccable family source hinted our crime correspondent that the reason for his killing might not be far from his defection to the opposition APC and his high level of participation in the just concluded APC membership registration in Akulga.
The family source further attributed the sad incident to an alleged misunderstanding between the deceased councilor and a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who were aggrieved about his cross over to the APC. “Is it wrong to defect to another political party in a democratic setting? A member of the family asked.
Meanwhile, Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and the chairman of Akuku-Toru Local Government have condemned the brutal murder of the councilor.
They described the incident as “barbaric” and called on the security agents to fish out the perpetrators of the heinous act and bring them to book. ###
