APC, PDP trade words over murder of three in Omoku

Banks shut in Omoku as gunmen kidnap UBA staff

….Saraki calls for probe

By Jimitota Onoyume, Gbenga Oke & Davies Iheamnachor

The orgy of killings continued in Rivers State, yesterday, with a middle-aged man, hacked and burnt in Buguma Town, in Asari-Toru Local Government Area of the state by suspected political thugs.

Meanwhile, police in the state, yesterday, said investigation was continuing in the murder of the Ward 4  Chairman of All Progressives Congress,  APC, in Omoku, late Mr Frankline Obi, his wife and son on Saturday night by gunmen.

Also, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has called on security agencies to unravel the  masterminds of the dastardly killing of  Franklin Obi and members of his immediate family.

Saraki described the avoidable bloodletting as callous and called on security agencies to ensure adequate protection of lives and property across the country.

IGP-Solomon-Arase

Also, a staff of a first generation bank, Mrs Olowu,  has been allegedly  kidnapped in Omoku, headquarters of Ogba/Egbema /Ndoni Local Government Area, of the state.

A community source who hinted  Vanguard of the development said that the victim was taken hostage Sunday night, adding that the incident forced banks to shut their doors, yesterday against customers in protest.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Ahmad Muhammad, confirmed the incident, adding that the Police was only informed 24 hours later.

Similarly, the mother of the Caretaker Committee Chairman of the council, Mr Sobomabo Jackrich aka Egberipapa has been kidnapped.  She was reportedly abducted on her way from church service on Sunday.

When contacted, yesterday, for an update on Saturday’s killings in Omoku, the state Police  Public Relations Officer,  Mr Ahmad Muhammad, said that investigation was ongoing, adding that the Police will come out with its findings at the appropriate time.

Buguma killing

Meanwhile, it was gathered that the Buguma victim, identified as Ofinjite Amachree, was killed by hoodlums, before setting him ablaze.

The development led to a violent clash between supporters of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the APC in the area.

State PPRO, Mr Muhammad, when contacted confirmed that there was a breach of the peace in Buguma yesterday.

He added that normalcy had returned to the area due to the swift response of security operatives who forestalled further breakdown of law and order.

At press time, the actual cause of the clash was still unknown, but a source in the community who spoke to Vanguard from hiding, disclosed that the middle-aged man, popularly called Kpom Kpom, whom he alleged was a member of the APC, was tortured half dead at the community sand-field area close to Buguma Hospital.

The source said that the victim was later brought out close to the road and set ablaze. The source said it was this development that triggered the clash as friends of the victim tried to revenge the killing.

The source who pleaded anonymity said: “We don’t really know what caused the fight but what we know is that it was a clash between APC and PDP thugs.

“There were series of gun shots so we had to take cover in our houses. One guy popularly known as Kpom-Kpom, who I think is an APC member, was killed and burnt. As I speak with you, there is tension in Bama.”

Also, the governorship candidate of APC in the 2015 elections in the state, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has condemned what he termed the gruesome and callous murder of Ofinijite Amachree, an APC stalwart in Buguma.

Speaking in Port Harcourt, yesterday, Peterside described the on-going killings in the state as frightening and unprecedented.

Omoku killings

On the Omoku killings, the APC spokesman in the state, Mr Chris Finebone, accused the PDP of being behind the murders, saying that it was part of a ploy by the party to intimidate the APC ahead of the re-run elections.

But deputy spokesman of the PDP in the state, Mr Sam Wonosike, called on the Police to look at the direction of the APC.

Wonosike said it was part of an alleged plot to rope in PDP members in the state with trumped up charges so they could be arrested ahead of the March 19 re-run elections.

He recalled that Governor Nyesom Wike had raised an alarm over an alleged plot to arrest members of the PDP and his political appointees over trumped up charges, saying that the killing could be part of the alleged plot  the governor spoke about.

Meanwhile, Senator Magnus Abe, the senatorial candidate of the APC for Rivers South-East, has accused Governor Nyesom Wike of maintaining a private army of hoodlums ahead of the March 17 National Assembly elections.

Speaking yesterday in Port Harcout, he said: “There are two armies in Rivers State as we speak. There is the Nigerian Army that is under the command of President Muhammadu Buhari and there is also an army of gangsters and criminals that is commanded by  Wike. So, this noise you are hearing is a blackmail against the Nigerian Army. It is designed to blackmail the Army into withdrawing from the March 19 elections so that their own army can operate the way they operated the last time. There is nothing else the army has done to deserve the blackmail that is going on.”