The Igbo community in South Australia will, on Wednesday, hold a candlelight vigil in honour of Victor Umeh, who was shot dead in Enugu State, Nigeria’s South-east.
The spokesperson of the Igbo community, Nnaemeka Umenzeakor, announced this in a statement forwarded to PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday.
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Late Umeh hailed from Amuvi village in Arochukwu, a community in Arochukwu Local Government Area of Abia, another state in the South-east.
Candle light vigil
Mr Umenzeakor, the Igbo community spokesperson, said the candlelight vigil would be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Holy Cross Catholic Church, Goodwood in South Australia.
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“This will be a special moment for us to pay our last respects and stand in solidarity as a community,” he told Austrian-based Nigerians.
“Kindly wear black to reflect our collective mourning,” he appealed to them.
How he was killed
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that Mr Umeh, who was based in South Australia, had returned to Nigeria to see his wife and child as well as his aged mother, but was shot dead by some gunmen on 7 June 2025.
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The incident happened in the New Haven Area of Enugu State.
Sources said on that fateful day, the deceased, 46, was contacted by three of his unnamed friends who reportedly asked him to come and pay for their drinks at a hotel in the area.
But on reaching the hotel, the friends told him they had already paid for the drinks, and he then joined them.
“He stayed with them for a short time before leaving. He left with one of his three friends.
“He drove a short distance from the hotel and stopped to urinate. Suddenly, some gunmen double-crossed him with their car and shot him in the leg and abdomen,” one source, who asked not to be named, narrated, adding that he was confirmed dead at a hospital.
The friend, who was with him in the vehicle, reportedly escaped the attack.
Burial date
Meanwhile, late Umeh’s family has announced his burial arrangements.
The body of the deceased will be conveyed to his hometown in Arochukwu, Abia State, on Friday, according to information on his burial poster.
Later, on the same day, there will be a wake at his country home.
The deceased will be laid to rest on Saturday at his compound after a burial mass at Amuvi.
Interment will follow immediately after the burial, according to the family.
The burial arrangements will be wrapped up with a Sunday Thanksgiving mass at the same church.
Worsening insecurity
Like other states in Nigeria’s South-east, security has deteriorated in Enugu State with frequent attacks by armed persons.
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kidnappers, cultists, even armed robbers are believed to be partly responsible for the growing insecurity in the region.
Also, separatist groups like the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have been linked to some deadly attacks in the region.
The IPOB-linked attacks often target security agencies, government officials and facilities.
However, the group has repeatedly denied its involvement in the attacks.
Hundreds of persons have been killed or abducted, and several others injured in some of such attacks in the region.
IPOB is leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra, which it wants to be carved out from the South-east and some parts of the South-south of Nigeria.
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