Rampaging gunmen, suspected to be cultists, have killed a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Godspower Ayodu, and six other persons in Omoku, the headquarters of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The Chairman of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Council, Augustine Ahiamadu, in a telephone interview, expressed shock at the murder, which he said took place in the ancient town on Friday evening, with the gunmen moving from house to house, killing innocent people. .
He disclosed that the gunmen were shooting sporadically in Omoku, which hosts the Federal College of Education (Technical), with the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) and Total oil company, as well as oil servicing companies, among others, operating in the area.
The council chairman described the unfortunate incident as condemnable, while calling on the police and other security agencies to apprehend the perpetrators of the dastardly act and prosecute them, to serve as a deterrent to others.
Ahiamadu noted that the inability to arrest the killers and hoodlums would embolden other criminals to even commit worse crimes in the LGA and other parts of the state and beyond.
The council boss also urged the people of the LGA, especially Omoku, to remain calm and be law abiding, stressing that a combined team of policemen and operatives of the Joint Task Force (JTF) had commenced special patrol of the LGA.
When contacted, the Rivers Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Muhammad Kidaya Ahmad, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), noted that it was a clash involving suspected rival cult groups, with investigation in progress.
Ahmad also admonished Rivers people with information on persons with bullet wounds to alert the police, while assuring that their identities would be well protected.
