Calls for immediate arrest and prosecution of Area Commander
Says – Enough is Enough
Following the sustained killings in Ekpeye Kingdom which over 20 persons were killed,5 beheaded and burnt at Ula-Upata and Edeoha,a suburb of Ahoada, the Headquarters of Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State,on Saturday April 30, 2016.
A group under the auspices of Ekpeye Patriotic Front has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency declare a state of emergency in Rivers state to end the orgy of senseless killing of innocent people in the
state,especially in Ekpeye Kingdom,since it has become obvious that the Wike led Rivers State Government is turning a blind eye to the reckless killings in the area.
In a press statement issued in Port Harcourt, the President of the group, Mr. Udhuluma Okpara lamented that between 2015 and now over 200 Ekpeye citizens comprising Ahoada East and Ahoada West L.G.A’s have been killed by sponsored cultists. He recalled that on 19th of January 2016, the assassins led by one notorious cultist Unene Johnson a.k.a IGBUDU and David Ezenwoke a.k.a COOMASI stormed Ula -Upata and killed 17 persons, including a serving Police Corporal and the mother of another Police officer. He noted that no day passes by without two people being killed by these boys leaving many families in pains and agony.He pointed out that because of fear of attack many Ekpeye communities have been deserted.
The statement further stated that on the 30th of April, 2016,the same boys invaded Ula-Upata community and killed over 20 persons and proceeded to Edeoha community and killed 5 persons, including a herbalist Mr Uwuma Ichocho.They were beheaded and their lifeless bodies set ablaze. Mr Udhuluma lamented that the Rivers State Government and the security agencies have abandoned the Ekpeye people to their fate,according to him, they have written severally to the IGP and Commissioner of Police on the spate of killings in Ekpeye and the urgent need to arrest these known hoodlums and to beef up security in Ekpeye and save the lives of Ekpeye people.
He called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of the Area Commander of the Ahoada Area Command of the Nigerian Police, AC Mustapher Katsina and the immediate past DPO at Ahoada Mr. Idachaba Friday Adamu for aiding and abetting these criminal gangs in their killings in Ekpeye. He noted that the Area Commander and the DPO are in constant contact with Igbudu but failed to arrest him and his gang,instead they provide them information each time there is plan for their arrest. The Area Commander, AC Mustapher Katsina has never hidden his motive in Ahoada which is primarily to make money by any means, including conniving with these criminals to kidnap and receive ransom. He has repeatedly said that Area Commanders who served at Ahoada usually build new houses and emphasized that his own will not be different. Mr Udhuluma regretted that since these killings became worst over a year ago under the watch of AC Mustapher Katsina, the Ahoada Police has not been able to make any single arrest even though these boys parade the streets freely with AK 47 riffles, instead they release those arrested by the Army,JTF and handed over to the Police under suspicious circumstances. He said on two occasions Ula-Upata was attacked and the one of Edeoha amongst several such attacks, the Ahoada police deliberately refused to respond to distress calls even though both Ula-Upata and Edeoha are less than ten minutes drive from the Police station. This is regardless of the fact that records indicates that the Rivers State Commissioner of Police Mr Musa Kimo has made available to the Area Commander adequate resources and manpower needed to crack down on these hoodlums, but for his ulterior motive, the Area Commander has frustrated the CPs efforts hence the rise in criminality and killings in Ahoada, Omoku and Abua divisions under his command. It is no gainsaying that the above communities are currently the worst in the country today in terms criminality because the Area Commander patronizes them.
Mr. Udhuluma used the opportunity to urge the media and the Rivers State Police command not to play down on the actual nature of crimes in Ekpeye by deliberately not telling the public the actual number of persons killed. He said reports credited to the police that only four persons were killed and the attacks being painted as cult clash is most unfortunate. The four members of the Nwoka family of Ula Upata killed last Saturday were innocent persons shot by these hoodlums right in front of their house along the road. The five killed at Edeoha are innocent persons as well. He urged the Police to carry out a thorough investigation and arrest these hoodlums.While calling on the President to immediately declare a state of emergency in Rivers State to avert total collapse of security.
Those Killed on 30th April 2015 at Ula-Upata
1. Mr. Ihemnachor Esordi
2. Mr. Fredrick Martins
3. Mr. Gospel Nwoka
4. Mr. Akor Aham Nwoka
5. Mrs. Aham Nwoka
6. Mrs. Aligbo Nwoka
7. Mr. Nwadu Nwati
8. Three Okada riders
9. A meat (suya) seller
10. A boy from Ogbo village
11. A man from Ula-Ehuda community.
Those killed at Edeoha town and beheaded
1. Mr Uwuma Ichocho
2. Master Egbuluka Uwuma
3. Chisom Elleh
4. Chisanim Okoro
5. A visitor from Anakpor village.
