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Gunmen, suspected to be cultists, have shot dead a member of a local vigilante group in the Obele community of Emohua Local Government Area, Rivers State.
The deceased, identified as a member of the ONELGA Security Peace and Advisory Committee, was targeted during an attack on Wednesday night.
The assailants also set ablaze the house of a former councillor in the area and left at least four others wounded by gunshots.
One of the survivors, who identified himself as Eze, narrated to reporters on Thursday how he and his brother were caught in the crossfire.
Eze explained that they were at home when they suddenly heard gunshots followed by the sound of motorcycles approaching their house. The attackers, accusing them of being informants to the police, opened fire on them.
He said, “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.”
Meanwhile, former Councillor Chigozie Woka, a native of Obele, whose house was destroyed in the attack, has accused the same “Naked” of masterminding the assault.
Woka claimed that “Naked”, originally from Ibaa community, had previously threatened him over his perceived cooperation with security agencies.
“I served as a councillor in Port Harcourt, and Obele has been experiencing crises due to this young man, ‘Naked’. 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,” Woka explained.
Woka revealed that on Sunday, while he was in Port Harcourt, he received a call informing him that “Naked” and his OSPAC operatives had raided his house, ransacked it, and set it on fire.
“He came to my house with his OSPAC boys, and they destroyed everything. What crime did I commit? That I’m working with security agencies?” he said.
Further escalating the situation, Woka claimed that “Naked” and his gang were behind the recent shooting that injured four people in the area, allegedly accusing them of collaborating with the police.
In response to the allegations, the acting Youth Chairman of Omuobu village in Ibaa, Achor Egberuwho, denied the claims and instead accused Woka of sponsoring cultists to attack “Naked.”
Egberuwho alleged that Woka was behind the attack on “Naked” and his followers. He insisted that “Naked” was an OSPAC member 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,” Egberuwho said.
As of the time of filing this report, the killing of the OSPAC member, the shooting of four individuals, and the attack on Woka’s house had been reported to the Rumuji Police Division.
Police spokesperson Grace Iringe-Koko confirmed the fatality and the destruction of the house, but she stated that she had yet to receive details on the shooting of the four victims.
“Yes, I can confirm that one person was killed and a house destroyed. Investigation is ongoing to identify and apprehend the culprits,” Iringe-Koko said.
