Council chairman blames police over killings in Rivers communities

The Chairman of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area in Rivers State, Mr. Austin Ahiamadu, has attributed the continued killings in the area to the failure of the Nigeria Police to live up to expectation.

Ahiamadu, who was reacting to Thursday’s attack on three communities in the area; Omoku, Obrikom and Ogbogu, by hoodlums suspected to be cultists, expressed regret that lives and property of residents in the area were not protected.

It will be recalled that unknown gunmen had shot their way into the communities after allegedly overpowering youths and policemen on guard in Obrikom town and two other communities.

The unknown gunmen had killed 13 residents of the area during the attack that lasted for several hours.

But Ahiamadu told newsmen on Friday that the frequent attacks by bandits, who kill indigenes of the area, had become a challenge to stakeholders in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area.

According to him, “The security agents did not live up to expectation. We still have reoccurrences. Naturally as a council chairman, you are the chief security officer, but you can’t go to war.

Yours is to issue orders. As a council, we have related with the security agents to do their job properly. If their job is not done properly, you don’t come back to blame the council chairman.

The local government chairman also lamented over the Federal Government’s failure to intervene in the security challenges faced by the council area.

We have been shouting to the state government and the Federal Government that they should come to the aid of ONELGA (Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area).

“ONELGA is the hub of oil and gas in this country. As I speak with you, there is no presence of multinationals and the people are jobless,” Ahiamadu said.

The council boss, who called on the state government and security agencies to redouble their efforts in bringing normalcy to the area, also criticised the peace reconciliation rally held in the area by a group.

He argued that it was wrong to organise such a programme without involving in local government council.

Ahiamadu disclosed that the series of violence in the area could be traceable to politicians, who used ‘the boys’ for election mercenary and dumped them.

“We are talking about lives of people here. When you buy guns and put in the hands of people, what do you expect? That is why I said that you must trace it back to the political issues,” he said.

The council chairman added that the council had organised security and peace meetings with both security agencies and community stakeholders to proffer solutions to the root of the crisis.