Gunmen Assassinate Cheluchi’s Father, Of 2021 LNG Winner

Prof I.O. Onyemelukwe was slain by gunmen believed to be members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

The now-deceased economics professor is claimed to be the father of Dr Cheluchi Onyemelukwe, the winner of the $100,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature in 2021.

On Friday morning, it was reported that gunmen attacked Oko, Orumba South Local Government Area, on Thursday night, blocking vehicles coming from Umunze, Ufuma, into Oko.

According to sources, the gunmen killed an unidentified elderly man in the less than one-hour operation, while abducting two individuals who were unable to answer questions concerning the IPOB’s campaign for self-determination.

Prof Onyemelukwe was recognized as the slain guy by a social media user who goes by the moniker Onyi.

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“South East is absolutely going down,” Onyii wrote in a post. My Godfather was recently murdered by the marauding killers wreaking havoc on the Southeast’s ecosystem.

Prof I.O. Onyemelukwe, an 88-year-old guy with a world-class intellect. In the old Anambra State, he was the permanent secretary. Later, he became an Economics Professor at UNIZIK.

“At the age of 22, he studied Economics in Adis Ababa, Ethiopia, on an OAU scholarship. Dr. Cheluchi Onyemelukwe, who received the LNG $100,000 literature prize last year, is his son.”

“He was returning to Nanka with his wife from Enugu and decided to follow the Oji, Ufuma, Amaokpala, Oko axis instead of traveling through Awka when he was attacked by the hoodlums,” Onyii stated. Bishop J.A. Onyemelukwe, the previous Bishop of the Niger, is his cousin. “May his soul rest in peace.” Amen!”

His daughter, Dr Cheluchi Onyemelukwe, was named one of the Canadian Black Writers to Watch in January for her work ‘The Son Of The House,’ which won the NLNG Prize for Literature in 2021.

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Our correspondent attempted to contact DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, the spokesperson for the Anambra State Police Command, for confirmation of the murdered man’s identity, but his phone was unreachable.