Omoni: confirmed arrest of 10 suspects

…Express frustration over inaction of State Judiciary

Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt

Rivers Police has launched a massive manhunt for the hoodlums who attacked residents during  cult related gang wars in Rumuolumeni community in Obio-Akpor local government area of the State in the early hours of Sunday.

Over ten suspects have been arrested so far in connection with the cult clashes which left at least eight members of the community dead.

The manhunt is sequel to outcries by residents of the community who have not held back in narrating the audacious manner the armed hoodlums gruesomely murdered their victims in the presence of their wives and children.

Nnamdi Omoni, the State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, who gave an update of the efforts to stop the attacks said the Police is breaking through the ranks of the cult groups to ensure that those linked to the senseless killings are brought to justice.

He assured that those arrested are helping the Police with information that will lead to the arrest of the leaders and sponsors of the gangs.

“We are doing our best; our greatest challenge is that there is no corresponding support from members of the communities. When these things happens,  even the bereaved families don’t report to us, they prefer to bury these corpses behind the back of the Police. We know that they are bereaved but they should be able to report these cases. These boys they also know them, they are their kith and kins; they should be able to report to us,” the police spokesperson said.

He explained that the Police have deployed men of its intelligence unit to the affected communities while looking forward to collaborative support from other partners to fight the gangs which he described as the common enemies of the society.

Omoni said modern policing is essentially based on intelligence  and they have been making significant in roads and we have breaking into their ranks.

“We have infiltrated them, they are disorganized and confused. These cult boys have lost patronage of sponsors who have been giving them arms and stipends, that’s why they are doing what they are doing now.”

The Police say they concerned about the rising incidents of different cult killings. He said the Police Anti-Cultism unit is investigating.

The PPRO assured that the public will be made to know what the findings are. He said the Police are not resting and concerned about what is happening.

He revealed that “When we arrest some of the boys they will tell you that they are cultist they forget that they were arrested with guns or even indicted in a case of armed robbery, they would confess to being a cultist than armed robbers and think we would not charge them to court.”

The Spokesman stated that one of the major challenges of the Police in Rivers state is the Judiciary.

“Sometimes, when you charge these boys to court, the next day they are back resulting from the omission of the police or judiciary inaction,” he said.