The spate of crime at the beginning of 2016 in Rivers State was like a wildfire. It later became worse. But after the amnesty offer by the state government, the trend became minimised until the bloody election rerun. PRECIOUS DIKEWOHA highlights some of the crimes that shook the state in the outgoing year.
MANY residents of Rivers State had thought that the casualty figures from the bloody rerun legislative elections in which a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Alkali Mohammed and his orderly were beheaded at Omoku would be the last in the year. Little did they know that some blood-thirsty killers would strike again before saying goodbye to 2016.
The year had shown signs of being bloody in the state as early as January 4 when a cult clash in Ubima community, Ikwerre Local Government Area, led to the death of one person. It was a serious supremacy battle between two rival cult groups in the area. While tension has reduced in the area after the state government’s amnesty offer, before now, the residents were living in fear over the activities of dreaded cult groups, Degbam and Iceland. More than 21 persons suspected to be members of the cult groups have been killed. Some have their corpses buried, while others were missing.
On January 13, there was anxiety in the same Ubima community over another cult clash. A suspected leader of Degban cult group, popularly known as Morroco, was beheaded. Morroco was the first victim after Iceland cult group in the area promised to avenge the death of their members with 50 heads.
On January 12, Prof. Michael Ogburia, the Director of Centre for Continuing Education, Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), was kidnapped. He stayed a few days in the kidnappers’ den before he was released.
Then on January 24, doctors in Rivers State protested what they described as shift of trade by kidnappers to abduct their members for ransom. They claimed that over 21 doctors were abducted in 2015 and decided that they would not close their eyes and allow kidnappers to inflict pains on them in 2016. The former chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Green Furo, said so many of them who escaped abduction were either injured or had their vehicles damaged by the kidnappers’ bullets.
On February 11, about 18 people were feared dead as gunmen invaded Omoku town, the headquarters of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area. It was gathered that a cult group, known as the Icelanders, invaded the area, killed 18 people and left many injured. On March 1, one person was killed and in-laws abducted during a marriage rite in Ubima community. The victim, whose name was simply given as Victor, was finally shot dead on his hospital bed after surviving the first gun shot at the family house. On the same day, an Obio/Akpor man and his son who went for traditional marriage rite in the community were abducted and later released after a few days in kidnappers’ den.
On March 14, two teachers posted to serve at the Community Secondary School, Ubima in Ikwerre Local Government Area, was abducted by gunmen along the school road while returning home. The abductors demanded a ransom of N5 million, and after a few days in the kidnappers’ den, they were released. The same March 14, gunmen abducted a lecturer at the Choba Main Campus of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Prof. Ebi Awortu Efebo. He was kidnapped while he was going home. The gunmen later demanded N50 million as ransom, and after a few days in the kidnappers’ den, he was freed.
On March 16, unidentified gunmen in the early hours stormed Mgbuitanwo, in Emohua Clan, Emohua Local Government Area of the Rivers State and beheaded a 28-year-old man before abducting another resident of the area. An eyewitness, Mr. Nwoka James, said the assailants entered the community in what was suspected to be a reprisal attack by a cult group, who mercilessly murdered the victim.
On April 1, fear gripped the residents of the communities in Egi Clan in Ogba-Egbama Ndoni Local Government Area (ONELGA) following the killing of more than 16 people in the area within a week. The murder of Chief Eddy Onwudiwe, the Ochi-Oha of Ukporomini, worsened the fear and tension in the various communities in the area. During the raid carried out by unknown gunmen, a pastor and some children were shot dead.
On April 10, the management of UNIPORT closed down the campus for a month after two students were feared dead following the protest that greeted the new school fees introduced by the management. The students, during the protest, shut down all academic activities in the school and also blocked the popular East-West Road to demand the immediate reversal of the old school fees.
One of the protesters, Peter Ofurum, a student in the Management Sciences, was allegedly hit by a bullet when some police officers were trying to stop them from destroying school property during the protest. He died as a result of the shooting.
On May 19, five persons were killed and two abducted when suspected cultists invaded Oduaha community in Emohua Local Government Area. Those killed included Chile Wosu, Medi Amadi, Chijioke Wosu, Obiee Ordu and Eloquent Wosu. One of the youths in the community, Chijioke Wali, said the suspected Degban cultists invaded the community in a manner that looked like a reprisal attack following the killing of two of their men two months earlier.
On May 23, an 11-year-old victim, whose parents did not want her name to be in print, fainted and was unable to walk on her own when their neighbour, a 40-year-old man, allegedly raped her after forcing the victim to suck his manhood. Both the suspect and the victim’s aunt lived in the same compound in Egbelu area of Port Harcourt in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State where the incident took place. The Ozuoba Police Division in Obio/Akpor council was handling the matter and had arrested the suspect, Mr. Innocent Akppa.
On May 29, six persons were killed in Ibaa community, Emohua Local Government Area, following a renewed attack by some bandits in the area. It was learnt that in the wee hours of that day, some gunmen alleged to be members of Greenlanders cult group had visited Ibaa community under heavy gunfire, killing six people.
In the month of June, precisely on 4th, many people were murdered in Ikwerre and Etche communities over the supremacy cult battle between Degbam and Iceland, which resulted in many casualties. Apart from many people getting injured, two persons were killed in the cult clash in Obite community in Etche Local Government Area while more than 14 people were killed in Omuchim, Omuakiri, Aluu, in Ikwerre council.
The same day, some gunmen suspected to be members of a cult group in the early hours killed 11 persons in Emohua Local Government Area. The cultists visited three communities in the area, namely Rumuji, Ovogo and Rumuewhuo, killing the victims who were suspected to be members of a rival cult group in the area. The victims included Mr. Nature Oti, Ikechi, Onyebuchi Omuruka, Mr. Chima Omuruka, Mr. Lucky Okwakpam, Mr. Nyovele and others.
While the killings in the state were getting out of hands, on June 12, the Nigeria Army invaded kidnappers and cultists’ hideout, which resulted in an exchange of gunfire between the cultists and the soldiers. Eight suspected cultists believed to be members of the Icelanders were killed in Obelle community, Emohua Local Government Area, by the military during the shootout. Five people who were kidnapped that weekend by the same cultists around Elele Town in Ikwerre Local Government Area regained their freedom.
It was gathered that the Army, following the recurrent killings and other cult-related activities that were threatening peace in Rivers State, trailed the hoodlums to their new camp in Obelle. Again, in another attack in Omoku on June 15, 11 people were gunned down in the headquarters of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area (ONELGA) by suspected cultists who invaded the area. Two people, including a popular medical doctor in the area, were kidnapped by the invaders during the raid.
In a continued effort to end criminality in the state, on June 18, soldiers from the 2 Brigade Port Harcourt stormed Ibaa Community in Emohua Local Government Area and nabbed over seven suspected cultists in the area. The soldiers deployed in Emohua LGA to tame cultism in the area visited some criminals’ havens in Ibaa in continuation of their operation. Seven suspected cultists, including one Mercury Peter, were apprehended by the security operatives.
On June 20, unidentified gunmen in the early hours shot dead one Mr. Allain John-Morrison, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abua/Odua Local Government Area. The gunmen had trailed their victim, a former councillor of Ward 1 in the Local Government Area, to Okobuo area where he was shot and beheaded.
While the people were mourning the death of the APC chieftain, on June 26, two policemen and five other persons were killed in a fresh cult clash that erupted in Rumuji and Ovogo communities in Emohua Local Government Area. It was learnt that the two dreaded cult groups that had been tormenting the state, the Icelanders and the Greenlanders, were locked in a battle for supremacy. The Nation gathered that suspected Icelanders group invaded Rumuji Police Station and shot the two officers on duty dead.
On June 27, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Ken Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic Chapter, Bori, suspended all academic activities in the polytechnic to demand the immediate release of their colleague, Mr. Abiye Ogan, who was kidnapped by unknown gunmen. Ogan, a lecturer in the Department of Science Laboratory Technology of the polytechnic, was later freed after staying a few days in the kidnappers’ den.
While one lecturer was being kidnapped, another one was freed on August 2. The kidnapped lecturer from UNIPORT, Dr. Reginald Ohiri, regained freedom from the hands of his abductors. The victim was freed by his abductors on the ground that he was not their target for the operation.
There was a sign of relief on August 27 when policemen gunned down six notorious kidnappers in the state. Residents of Ahoada East Local Government Area went into celebration after hearing the news of police killing of the six notorious kidnappers. It was also reported that one Deeper Life Christian Bible Ministry pastor died, while several others persons sustained serious injuries in the incident. The suspects who died in the operation were simply identified as Mr. Igbudu, Mr. Goodluck, Mr. Emmanuel, Mr. Pedro, Mr. Bagio, and Mr. Small.
On August 26, unknown gunmen in the early hours abducted a community leader, Chief Sabinus Obuah, at his residence in Ubima Community, Ikwerre Local Government Area. The victim was kidnapped around 1 am alongside his wife and son before the abductors abandoned his family halfway and fled to an unknown destination with the chief. He was later freed after paying a ransom.
The assassination of a Port Harcourt-based human rights lawyer, Barrister Ken Astwete, on August 28 did not only shut down the Garden City but dust up provocative reactions from two major political parties in the state. Mrs. Adigwe, the wife of a slain retired army officer, Captain Chukwuemeka Judge Adigwe, who was murdered by unknown gunmen on August 22, blamed insecurity in Rivers State for the death of her husband.
On August 29, 13 suspected cultists were declared dead during a clash with rival cult groups in Rumuoro village, Ogbakiri community, Emohua Local Government Area. The clash came barely two weeks after cultists in Ogbakiri community accepted to embrace the amnesty programme of the Rivers State Government. It echoed again in Omoku when 14 staff members of Nestoil Plc were abducted in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State. The company’s bus was conveying the 14 workers to the office before they were accosted by armed men around Omoku town.
Few days later, on September 1, unidentified gunmen kidnapped one Miss Amarachi Okereke in Rumuji community in Emohua Local Government Area. The victim, who is a teacher at Uvawuhu Comprehensive High School, Ibaa, was abducted by the unknown gunmen at her residence in Rumuji community.
Then on September 4, two persons were shot dead during a cult clash in Egita community in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government. It was learnt that the two cult groups, Icelanders and Greenlanders, which had been terrorising the area, were locked in a war for supremacy despite that one of the cult leaders in the area had accepted the state government’s amnesty offer.
On September 5, suspected sea pirates hijacked a Marine Police gunboat with four policemen on board while on routine patrol of the Abonnema waterways. The lifeless bodies of the police personnel were later recovered. The Nation, during investigation, gathered that the Marine Police gunboat was attacked with the four crew men onboard shortly after departing Abonnema wharf jetty in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Police officers from the Rivers State Command on September 6 foiled a kidnap attempt on a bakery owner, simply identified as Mrs. Martha in Omoku Town, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of the state. The unidentified hoodlums had invaded the area to kidnap the bakery owner. A source who pleaded anonymity disclosed that the kidnappers had arrived at 8 am to pick their target at gunpoint, but their mission was unsuccessful due to the immediate response of the police.
The people of Rumuekini community were forced to wake up rudely on September 12 when suspected cultists killed a mother of six, a woman who recently gave birth to triplets, and the father was in the mortuary. Comfort was said to be a sister to one of the hardened cultists in the state, who had led so many deadly missions to the families of his rivals.
On September 18, unidentified gunmen gunned down a member of a vigilante group in Omoku town. The victim was attacked along Palace Road, Omoku town. Two days later, two mobile policemen were murdered during a gun battle with hoodlums at Ikiri area of Omoku Town in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area. Two others who sustained bullet wounds were rushed to an undisclosed hospital in the state for treatment.
In the early hours of Sunday, September 24, an Army officer, whose name was identified simply as Loveday, stabbed a father of five, Mr. Linus Sunday, to death after the victim pleaded with him not to engage in a fight with the boyfriend of his (suspect) sister.
The late Linus, who was residing at No. 42 Chindah Street, off Ada-George Road in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, died on his way to Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital (BMH) after a few hours at Life Forth Hospital where he was first attended to.
On September 25, six persons were killed in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, following a resurgent cult clash in the area. It was gathered that cultists suspected to be members of the Greenlanders had invaded two communities in the area, Okposi community in Iburu clan and Obagi in Egi clan. On September 28, unknown gunmen abducted two nurses, Mr. Awaji-Owa Ntendeng Hebron and Mrs Nwikina Felicia who were under the employment of Erema General Hospital in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area.
It was gathered that Mrs. Nwikina, who was brutalised alongside the colleague escaped from the gunmen bleeding seriously. The source said Nwikina told them that the gunmen had thought that because she was a woman, she would not pose any problem to them, so they treated her with levity, but she escaped from the forest to their chagrin.
In October, exactly on the 4th day, unidentified gunmen killed a chieftain of the APC, Mr. Boris Neenwi in Yeghe community, Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State. The deceased Neenwi, a former councillor who represented Yeghe community at the Gokana legislative assembly, was murdered at night.
On October 5, an officer of the Rivers State Police Command was killed in Borokiri, Port Harcourt City Local Government Area. An eyewitness, Mr. Bright Wenedah, told The Nation that the two police officers were attached to the Anti-Terrorism Unit of the command.
While the state government was doing everything within their power to curtail the spate of criminality in the state, on October 2, gunmen attacked the Rivers State Amnesty Programme Committee, led by the chairman Mr. Kenneth Chinda, at Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State. It was gathered that the team had resumed duty in ONELGA before they were ambushed by suspected cultists in the area.
On October 15, four persons were killed and several houses burnt down in an attack said to have been carried out by rival cult groups in Akporo-Sogho community, Khana Local Government of Rivers State. The authority of Khana Local Government Area confirmed the attack in Akporo-Sogho community, saying it was the handiwork of suspected cultists.
On the 24th of the same month, two people were killed in Omoku town in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area as cultists engaged in fresh battle for supremacy. A source in the area who pleaded anonymity said the victims were Mr. Ndu Tom and Ladi Simeon. The victims were killed in their apartment in Obohia area in Omoku town by the gunmen suspected to be cultists.
On October 30, two youths were killed and beheaded when armed men stormed Kono community in Khana Local Government Area of Ogoni, Rivers State. The killing took place in the night when the armed youths invaded the community, shooting sporadically. It was gathered that the gunmen suspected to be cultists were on the trail of their rivals in the community.
On November 17, an official of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Sophia Philips Horsfall, was murdered by his boyfriend. Mr. Sotonye Martin and two others, Innocent Oluche and Wachukwu Ugochukwu, were arraigned before Magistrate Z. O. Alikor of Rivers State Magistrate’s Court 2 for their alleged involvement in Philips Horsfall’s murder. The victim, who was popularly known as Sophia, was stabbed to death after the suspect discovered huge sums of money in her bank accounts. She was buried on December 24.
On November 19, unidentified gunmen abducted the principal of Kalabari National College (KNC), Mrs. S. Damiete, in Buguma, headquarters of Asari-Toru Local Government Area. She was kidnapped at about 7.30 pm by unknown gunmen. But she was later freed after days in kidnapers’ den. On November 28, there was tension in the Port Harcourt metropolis in Rivers State when the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Intelligence Team engaged a four-man armed robbery gang in a gun battle, killing three. The incident took place at the UTC junction.
The police had trailed the suspects from Borokiri axis and intercepted them at the junction when they could not move further due to the traffic light. Police recovered one GPMG rifle with 1,000 rounds of ammunition, one AK47 rifle and others.
In what looked like a bloody Christmas gift, on Christmas eve, unidentified gunmen suspected to be members of cult groups killed more than eight people in Omoku town in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State. It was gathered that the bandits invaded the community at 9 pm that day and shot sporadically.
Meanwhile, while the residents of the state look forward to the New Year, concerned ones, many of whom will be besieging places of worship tonight, are praying fervently that 2017 will not be as bloody as 2015 and 2016.
