Gunmen suspected to be cultists have shot and killed a member of a vigilante group in Obele community in the Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State. The victim was a member of a local security outfit called the ONELGA Security Peace and Advisory Committee codenamed OSPAC.
It was gathered that the assailants had earlier razed the house of a councillor in the area while four others sustained gunshot wounds as a result of the shooting on Wednesday night. One of the survivors of the shooting who gave his name as Eze told newsmen on Thursday that he was at home with his brother when suddenly gunshots rented the air followed by the sound of a motorbike in front of their house.
Eze said the assailants accused them of being informants giving information to security operatives before they were attacked. He stated, “I stood up and said let me go and check the people. I saw boys working for one man nicknamed ‘Naked’ with guns and immediately told my brother to run. As we started running, they began to shoot at us.
“Now, they shot me, shot my brother, we are like four that they shot. I have not seen one up till now. We called the village if they had seen my brother, and they said they had not seen him. Naked is from Ibaa community (also in Emuoha). He was said to be on security surveillance, I don’t know. I am not a cultist.”
Continuing, he said, “They (the assailants) said that we were giving information. That is the last thing I heard in the community before I left. I don’t know who I am giving information to.” Meanwhile, a former councillor in Port Harcourt ward 17, Chigozie Woka, a native of Obele, whose house was attacked and destroyed by the gunmen last Sunday, has also accused the same “Naked” of being behind the attack.
Speaking to newsmen, Woka said, “I served as a councillor in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area. What is happening in Obele today is unfortunate. Obele has been having a crisis because of this young man called Naked.
“This young man in question is not even from Obele. He is from Ibaa, and comes to Obele to take refuge. He called me on the phone to say I was working with the security agencies to chase him out of Obele. I told him I was not working with anybody because I didn’t have any plan like that.
“It was on a Sunday. I was in Port Harcourt when they called me that he had gone to my house with his OSPAC (vigilante) boys. This young man, if he is called for profiling as an OSPAC officer will not come.
“He went to my house, they told me he scattered everywhere, put the house on fire and I’m in Port Harcourt here. What is my crime? That I am working with security agencies. Continuing he said, “These are the things happening in Obele. After he scattered my house and set fire to it, I went to the Divisional Police Officer in Rumuji. I have made an entry there.
“Today again, I am surprised that they were calling me that he had gone to my place to shoot some people in my community, that they were working with me and the police to chase him out. He shot four people, they can only see three, who are looking for a way to treat themselves. One, I don’t know if he is dead, they are calling me they cannot reach that one.”
While speaking on behalf of Naked, the acting Youth Chairman of Omuobu village in Ibaa, Achor Egberuwho, denied the allegation and rather accused Woka of sponsoring cultists to attack and kill Naked.
Speaking to newsmen, Egberuwho said, “It is laughable that a person like Chigozie Woka will stoop so low to say such a thing. Chigoze, supported by his paymaster, led this group of rascals to Obele on Sunday morning, if not for the grace of God, Chinanu Eleonu aka Naked would have died. He barely survived.
“Chigozie has been boasting that Obele will know no peace except the CDC chairman position is given to him. So, the OSPAC are searching for the killers. No house has been razed down. We call on the public to go to Obele to see if any house was burnt and if any other person has been killed except the OSPAC member who was allegedly killed by Chigozie and his gang. Chinanu Eleonu did not destroy any house nor did he kill anybody.
“The OSPAC member who was killed was from Obele. His name I can’t ascertain now. The Rumuji Police Division has taken inventory of it. They are investigating it.”
As of the time of filing this report, our correspondent gathered that the killing of the OSPAC member, reported shooting of four persons and destruction of the house of the former councilor had been reported to the Rumuji Police Division. When contacted, the spokesperson for the state police command, Grace Iringe Koko, confirmed the killing and the attack on the councillor’s house.
Iringe-Koko however said she had yet to receive information on the shooting of the four others. She stated, “Yes, I can confirm that one person was killed and a house destroyed. An investigation is ongoing to fish out the culprits and bring them to book.”
