Police arrest vigilante who killed Air Force Man in Rivers, Mum on hoodlums’ invasion, freeing of inmates at Okrika

 POLICE in Rivers state have confirmed the arrest of a vigilante who killed a Nigerian Air Force Man in Omuanwa community, Ikwerre Local Government Area (LGA) on Tuesday.

The development followed swift response by the community leaders who on Wednesday handed over the suspect, Progress Emecheta, to the Police Area Command, Isiokpo before his transfer to the the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID).

Ugor Chinna, Chairman, Omuanwa Town Union/Community Development Committee (CDC) said the tragedy was a case of carryover of aggression by the alleged killer, Emecheta, member of dreaded ONELGA Security Peace Advisory Council (OSPAC) following a brush with the Air Force Man, Kasite Eugene, who also hails from the community.

DSP Grace Woyengikuro, Police Public Relations Officer, Rivers Command in a scanty statement said, “On the case in Omuanwa, the OSPAC personnel has been arrested. Named Progress Emecheta’ m’, the suspect is detained in the SCID. Investigation is ongoing.”

Chinna, the community chairman in a broader account narrated, “We lost a hardworking agent of federal government. It is pity. It’s unfortunate he’s dead, if not we would have heard his own side of the story. It’s as if we are hearing from only one side now.

“What we did quickly on getting wind of the development was to call the OSPAC people. This thing is a case of carryover of aggression. The day before, there was an argument in the OSPAC yard between the Air Force personnel and the vigilante.

“Someone was arrested to denounce cultism. That’s what OSPAC has been doing to sanitise the community. I was told Kasite entered into the yard and was ordering immediate release of the arrested person. OSPAC was telling him to allow them do things their way.

“That did not go down well with him. He was furious, shouting on top of his voice at them to release the arrested person. So one of them pushed the Air Force Man out of their yard in the orders of the OSPAC leadership in the community. That was on Monday.

“Tuesday, he (Air Force Man) now mobilised one or two of his friends and traced the the boy that pushed him out of their gates to his father’s house, few meters away. Then Kasite’s own father’s house is some 600 meters away from the scene. 

“So he went to Ukegbu’s compound and the boy who pushed him out of OSPAC was beaten to stupor, but he then dashed to where he had OSPAC gun and that led to the unfortunate incident, but you cannot right a wrong with another wrong. Life has been taken, the culprit should face the law.”

Chinna however admonished, “Youths of the community should be civil. All eight villages making up the community contributed, men N200, 000, women N53, 000 per village to establish OSPAC in the community.

“We have to let them work. If you were a cultist, denounce cultism. There are other youths that were not arrested to denounce cultism.”

Meanwhile the Rivers Police Command is yet to offer a statement on alleged hoodlums invasion and release of cell inmates at the Okrika Divisional Police Office, Okrika LGA, in the state on same fateful Tuesday.

Prince Wiro, a rights activist however suspected that the said invasion of the police station may have been hatched to free a high profile defilement/rape suspect being held in custody and scheduled to be transferred to SCIID yesterday.