Police arrest 10 after Ilorin attack
Ruler, wife killed in Southern Kaduna
A Man, his wife, five children and eight others
were killed yesterday in Omoku, headquarters of
Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of
Rivers State.
Over 52 persons, who were also injured in the
New Year’s Day attack by some gunmen, were in
critical condition in hospitals.
The victims had just concluded a service in an
unnamed church when the gunmen opened fire on
them.
The bodies of the 15 victims, as at press time,
were still at the pavilion of the secretariat of
Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Council in
Omoku, their relatives and friends making efforts
to identify them.
The rampaging gunmen were suspected to be
militants working for a man the military described
as “a notorious kidnapper, militant, cultist, ardent
illegal oil bunkerer”, Mr. Igwedibia Johnson, aka
Don Waney, who is on the run, following the raid
of his camp and shrines on November 20, last
year, as part of 6 Division, Nigerian Army, Port
Harcourt’s continued efforts to rid the Niger Delta
of criminals.
In Southern Kaduna yesterday, a ruler Mallam
Gambu Makama and his wife were gun down by
mask-wearing gunmen in their home after
midnight.
Crude oil and gas-rich Omoku hosts the Federal
College of Education (FCE) Technical, many
multinational oil firms, oil servicing companies
and other establishments, but most of the
commercial banks in the ancient town have been
closed for months, in view of insecurity, without
the hope of the bankers returning to the city.
An indigene of Omoku, who yesterday gave details
of how the 15 worshippers were gunned down but
would not want his name in print, to avoid his
being trailed by the criminals, said as the
Christians were leaving their various churches on
January 1, the gunmen were spraying them with
bullets at close range.
The source said: “Since 2014, when the crisis
started in Omoku and its environs, over 500,
mostly innocent people, have been killed.
“I am calling on President Muhammadu Buhari
and Governor Nyesom Wike to take immediate
action to secure the lives and property of
residents of Omoku and its environs, especially
with the forthcoming primaries of political parties
and general elections.
“We do not deserve the killings in Omoku and its
environs. We are not in a state of war. Don
Waney’s boys have regrouped and are terrorising
innocent citizens. Over 52 wounded victims of
New Year Day attack in Omoku are now in various
hospitals and clinics.”
Police spokesman Nnamdi Omoni, a Deputy
Superintendent of Police (DSP), said he was yet
to get details of the New Year’s Day’s incident
from the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Omoku.
Omoni said immediately he got information about
the killings in Omoku, he contacted the DPO, who
promised to get back to him, but yet to do so, as
at press time.
Peterside laments Rivers killings
The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime
Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr
Dakuku Peterside has lamented the killings in
Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area
(ONELGA) of Rivers State by unidentified gunmen
shortly after attending New Year’s Eve service.
Dr Peterside sympathised with the families of the
deceased, saying its another set of deaths too
many in a local government area that was held
hostage by cult groups claiming supremacy and
allegedly enjoying support from some politicians.
He expressed regret that while other parts of the
state were in celebratory mood, the people of
ONELGA were mourning the passing away of their
beloved in the most gruesome manner.
”My heart goes the people of ONELGA and the
immediate families of the deceased. This is an
act that must be condemned. The good people of
Omoku have suffered enough and this has dealt a
further blow on their sufferings,” he stressed.
The NIMASA boss stated that the latest killings
have exposed the lack of capacity and
competence on the part of Governor Nyesom Wike
to provide adequate security for Rivers people.
”I have said it time and again that Governor Wike
lacks the capacity and competence to guarantee
the safety and security of Rivers people. It is
unfortunate that over 1,000 persons have been
killed in questionable circumstances in the last
two years under his watch. He should stop
playing politics with the lives of Rivers people and
face governance.
”Since the governor is not rising to the occasion
to show competence, we will henceforth partner
with all relevant security agencies to bring peace,
law and order to ONELGA and other parts of
Rivers State.
”This is indeed a sad day for the people of
ONELGA and the only way we can assuage their
feelings is to ensure that this does not happen
again. Governor Wike can rise above his partisan
politics and display the hallmark of a statesman
by openly condemning this murderous act and
stop at nothing to arrest the criminals,” he said.
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