On February 2, 2023 a Twitter user posted: “BREAKING 🚨: Unconfirmed Report indicates that LP Senatorial Candidate for Enugu East, Barrister Oyibo Chukwu was shot & feared dead. His vehicle set ablaze. He is contesting against Chimaroke Nnamani. He was so much growing in popularity.”
In the same tweet thread, another user shared this video of a burning vehicle to support the information shared.
Claim
That the Labor party (LP) senatorial candidate in Enugu, Barrister Oyibo Chukwu was murdered.
Verification
According to a story published by Business Day on February 23, 2023, the Enugu East Labour Party senatorial candidate was shot and killed, The report states that while wrapping up his campaign, he “was shot dead when the vehicle he was traveling in was attacked and later set ablaze.”
In a similar report, Vanguard News disclosed that “Oyibo, a lawyer was attacked while returning from a campaign trip in the Agbani area. He was said to have been burnt inside his vehicle, and three persons were suspected to be with him in the vehicle but it was not yet known how many of the occupants were killed.”
According to the Vanguard News report, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the state, Uche Nnaji, was also attacked at the same location where the Labour candidate was killed.
In addition, the Labor Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, shared news “of the painful killing of Barrister Oyibo Chukwu.” Peter Obi’s tweet seems to be the sole confirmation from the Labour party since the news broke out Wednesday evening.
Verdict
The claim that Barrister Oyibo Chukwu, the Enugu East Senatorial candidate of the Labor Party was murdered has been confirmed by Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the party.
CDD Election War Room has previously explained what happens when a candidate dies. Read more here.