By Iyala Adaye
P/Harcourt
Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike has announced N200 million reward for anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of the gunmen who killed several residents of the state who were returning from church on New Year Day.
The police in the state said it was difficult to ascertain how many people died so far from the incident which happened in Omoku, a community in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni (ONELGA) Local Government Area of the state.
But the Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside, who is an indigene of the state, said 21 people were killed in the incident.
Peterside, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) blamed the killing on a supremacy battle among rival cult groups and also accused Governor Wike of lacking the capacity to tackle the state’s security challenges.
“I have said it time and again that Governor Wike lacks the capacity and competence to guarantee the safety and security of Rivers people.
“It is unfortunate that over 1,000 persons have been killed in questionable circumstances in the last two years under his watch. He should stop playing politics with the lives of Rivers people and face governance,” Peterside said in a statement.
The police spokesperson in the state, Omoni Nnamdi, said no arrest had been made yet.
Wike yesterday led the Rivers State Security Council on a fact-finding and sympathy visit to the families of the deceased, according to a Government House statement.
“We have placed N200 million bounty for relevant information that will lead to the arrest of all those involved in this unfortunate act of violence,” the statement quoted the governor as saying.
One woman, who identified herself as Comfort Ordu, narrated how the gunmen dragged her husband and three children from their home and shot them to death.
The governor was said to have also visited the crime scenes at Omoku and was briefed by the caretaker chairman of ONELGA, Olisa Osi, and the Police Area Commander, Mike Nwafor.
The caretaker chairman, Osi told the governor that 17 people died in the attack.
