Gunmen struck in Omoku, the headquarters of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State on Saturday and killed the Ward 4 chairman of the All Progressives Congress in the area, Franklin Obi.
The gunmen, who beheaded Mr Obi, also killed his wife, Mrs Iheoma Obi, and 18-year-old son, Bestman Obi, in their residence on Rutachi Street in Omoku at about 9pm.
They took the head of the APC leader away, while the daughter of the deceased, Victory, cried at the sight of the gruesome killing of her dad, mum and brother.
It was gathered that the gunmen had earlier been sighted by some members of the community before they eventually struck.
Narrating how her father, mother, and brother were killed, Victory Obi, told newsmen that she and her brother were in their room when they heard a gunshot.
Victory, who is about 16 years old, said they decided to hide somewhere in the room, from where they peeped and saw how the gunmen were cutting off her father’s head.
The teenager, who spoke amid tears, said, “Last night, I was inside when I heard my mum crying. We heard the sound of a gunshot and hid somewhere in the room. I opened the curtain of my room and I saw the men cutting off my father’s head.
“They then came to our room and ordered me and my brother to come out and as we were coming, my brother was moving slowly and they shot him. They then left with my father’s head.”
The Rivers State Police Commissioner, Mr. Musa Kimo, who visited the ancestral home and the residence of the deceased, expressed sadness that some of the people of the area, who had earlier sighted some of the masked gunmen, did not call the police.
Kimo, who said he was at the home of the deceased on a condolence visit and to strategise on how to improve security within the area, called on the people of Ogba/Egbe/Ndoni Local Government Area to always alert the police when they notice any suspicious move within their environment.
“I am here in Omoku this time on a sad note. It is sad in the sense that we are all bereaved. The governor, I and other security officers were in Omoku two weeks ago in search of peace. Unfortunately, violence has continued to pervade, dovetailing into kidnappings and murders.
“Last night, precisely 2100 hours, one Mr. Franklin Obi, APC Chairman, Ward 4, Omoku, the wife and son were gruesomely murdered in their house. This is bad, this is a sin and totally not acceptable.
“I am here to commiserate with the deceased families and also to re-strategise and put pungent security measures in place in order to forestall future occurrence,” the state police commissioner added.
He said investigation into the killings in Omoku, including Saturday’s murder of Franklin Obi, his wife and son, were ongoing, adding that the police was not relenting in ensuring that those behind the dastardly act were arrested and brought to book.
Eze Ogba of Ogbaland, His Eminence, Sir Chukumela Nnam Obi II, who spoke when the state CP visited him in his palace, expressed sadness over the killing in Omoku and the entire ONELGA, even as he expressed the belief that the killings would cease.
The monarch said, “Those who don’t want us to have peace will never know peace. We have done a peace march. With churches everywhere, it is shocking that we still have such killing in ONELGA. An educated man cannot take pleasure in killing his fellow no matter the disagreement.”
He urged the CP to put more men in strategic places in ONELGA in order to stem the wave of violent crime in the area.
In his remark, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of ONELGA, Mr. Isaac Umejuru, who was almost in tears, explained that though Franklin Obi was in the APC, the incident was a sad one that would never be accepted by any right thinking person.
- PUNCH
