More than a year after surviving a terror attack in Igbeti, Zaki Biam Local Council of Benue State, a professional sports scout, John Chidiebere Kpechi, has been declared missing, with his family appealing for help to locate him.
His widowed mother, Grace Kasie Kpechi, a native of Umuezunu village, Nawfia, in Njikoka Local Council of Anambra State, said she had neither seen nor heard from her son since the incident. She told journalists that her “most fervent prayer” was for assistance in finding him.
According to her, the incident occurred in the early hours of August 28, 2024, when armed men stormed a residential compound where Kpechi was staying with his childhood friend, Alphonsus Ezeka, a pharmaceutical dealer from Enugu-Ezike in Enugu State.
Ezeka, who also spoke to journalists, said the attackers entered the compound firing gunshots, forcing the two friends to escape through a back door. He explained that they had run in different directions during the chaos and had not seen or heard from each other since.
He added that he did not report the incident to the police after returning to his apartment the following morning, calling such a step “pointless” due to what he alleged was the lack of a response to similar incidents in the area.
While the circumstances surrounding the attack remain unclear, Kpechi’s family has urged security agencies and members of the public to assist with information that could help trace his whereabouts.
Kpechi, who hails from Umuezunu village in Nawfia, Anambra State, had travelled to the area to scout for sports talent when the attack occurred.
