A vigilante group member from Rivers State’s Obele community was shot and killed by suspected cultists.
The victim was a member of the ONELGA Security Peace and Advisory Committee, also known as OSPAC.
The cultists also razed the house of a councillor in the area and injured four others during the shooting on Wednesday night.
One of the shooting survivors, identified as Eze, told reporters on Thursday that he was at home with his brother when gunshots rang out, followed by the sound of a motorcycle in front of their home.
According to Eze, the cultists accused them of being informants who gave information to security personnel 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; they shot my brother; we are like four that they shot. I have not seen one up till now. We asked the village if they had seen my brother, and they said they had not seen him.
“Naked is from the Ibaa community (also in Emuoha). He was said to be on security surveillance; I don’t know. I am not a cultist.”
Furthermore, 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, Chigozie Woka, a former councillor in Port Harcourt ward 17, a resident of Obele whose house was attacked and demolished by gunmen last Sunday, has accused the same “Naked” of carrying out 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 and 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.”
Speaking on Naked’s behalf, Achor Egberuwho, the interim youth chairman of Omuobu village in Ibaa, refuted the charge and accused Woka of supporting cults to attack and kill Naked.
Speaking to reporters, Egberu 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 is 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 reporter learnt that the killing of the OSPAC member, the reported shooting of four people, and the demolition of the former councillor’s residence had all been reported to the Rumuji Police Division.
When contacted, Grace Iringe Koko, a spokesperson for the state police command, verified the murder and the attack on the councillor’s home.
Iringe-Koko, on the other hand, stated that she had yet to get information on the other four people who were shot.
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.”
