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Gunmen have killed the Chief Security Officer of the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Richard Timothy, and his 23-year-old son, Silas, at their residence in Igwuruta-Ali, near Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Timothy’s widow, Grace, who narrated the incident to journalists in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, said the attackers, numbering about five and dressed in black, ambushed the family as they drove into their compound.
According to her, the assailants shot her husband multiple times in the head before turning their guns on Silas, who had just graduated from the University of Port Harcourt and was awaiting deployment for the National Youth Service Corps.
“Around 9pm on January 31, we went to get some things. As we returned and were about to enter the house, we called my son to open the gate. As he did, armed men dressed in black entered with us in their car. They started shooting. They shot my husband in the head multiple times. They also shot my son,” she recounted, struggling to hold back tears.
Grace said she narrowly escaped but returned later to find her son’s lifeless body.
“I was able to escape, but when I got back into the house, I saw my son’s body on the floor. The police came, and I took his corpse to the morgue,” she added.
She also claimed that the gunmen dragged her into a nearby bush, about 50 meters from the house, demanding money.
“They said they didn’t come for me but my husband. They asked for money, but I told them I had none. One of them was accidentally shot during the scuffle, and while trying to escape with the injured member, they left me and asked me to go back,” she narrated.
Grace alleged that her husband had received multiple threats from individuals opposed to his efforts to curb the looting of property at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium.
“He had been receiving threats. If the police check records at the Igwuruta Police Station, they will find reports he made about these threats. He even arrested two people around June or July last year for theft—one from the stadium and another from our neighborhood. I don’t want my husband to die in vain. He fought for the truth,” she said.
Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Grace Iringe-Koko, said investigations had commenced to apprehend the killers.
In a statement titled ‘Rivers Police Launch Probe Into Murder of Stadium CSO, Son,’ Iringe-Koko said the police received a distress call from the deceased’s daughter, Omolara, and dispatched officers to the scene.
“The Rivers State Police Command is aware of a tragic incident that occurred on January 31, 2025, at about 11:40pm, where Richard Timothy, 59, Chief Security Officer of Adokiye Amiesimaka International Stadium, Omagwa, Port Harcourt, and his first son were brutally murdered by unknown gunmen.
“The Igwuruta Division received a report from Timothy’s daughter, stating that four armed men ambushed her father and brother, shooting them in the head. The victims were rushed to the hospital but were confirmed dead by the doctor on duty.
“Three expended AK-47 cartridges were recovered from the scene. The Commissioner of Police has directed the deployment of all necessary intelligence to apprehend the fleeing suspects and bring them to justice,” the statement read.
Iringe-Koko assured that the police would intensify efforts to curb crime in the state and ensure justice for the bereaved family.
