One shot dead, ex-lawmaker’s house set ablaze in Rivers

Gunmen on Wednesday shot dead a member of a vigilante group in Obele, a community in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The deceased, whose name is not given is a member of Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area Peace and Advisory Committee, Punch newspaper reported.

The gunmen, suspected to be cultists, also set ablaze a house of a former councillor. Four people sustained gunshot injuries in the attack.

Grace Iringe-Koko, the police spokesperson in the state confirmed the incident to the newspaper, saying that the police were investigating the incident.

“Yes, I can confirm that one person was killed and a house destroyed,” Mrs Iringe-Koko, a superintendent of police said, adding that she was yet to be briefed on details of the four injured victims.

The incident

One of the survivors, simply identified as Eze, told reporters on Thursday how he and his brother escaped the shootings.

Mr Eze said they heard the sound of motorcycles near their house and gunshots from the attackers who accused them of being informants to the police.

He said the gunmen opened fire at them.

“I stood up to check who they were, and I saw boys working for a man called ‘Naked’ with guns. I immediately told my brother to run. As we fled, they shot at us. We were four in total, and I haven’t seen my brother since. We’ve been calling around, but no one has seen him.

“They accused us of giving information to security agencies. That was the last thing I heard before I fled,” Mr Eze said.

During the attack, the gunmen destroyed the house of a former councillor in the area, Chigozie Woka, who hails from Obele.

The former lawmaker also accused “Naked” of being behind the attack on his house over his perceived cooperation with security agents.

Mr Woka blamed “Naked” for the crises in the community. He said he received a call on Sunday that “Naked” and some members of the peace and advisory committee of the local council had raided his house and set it on fire.

“He’s not even from Obele; he comes here to seek refuge. He called me recently, accusing me of working with security agencies to chase him out,” Mr Woka said.

“He came to my house with his boys, and they destroyed everything. What crime did I commit? That I’m working with security agencies?” he said.

The acting youth chairperson of Omuobu, in Ibaa, Achor Egberuwho, however, absolved ‘Naked’ of responsibility in the shooting and accused the former lawmaker of sponsoring cultists to attack ‘Naked’.

The youth leader said ‘Naked’ is a member of the peace and advisory committee and could not have been involved in the killings of fellow operatives.

“It’s laughable that Chigozie Woka would stoop so low. He led a group to attack ‘Naked’. If not for the grace of God, ‘Naked’ would have been killed,” he said.