Operatives of Rivers State Police Command have arrested six suspects in connection with the gruesome murder of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Ahoada East Local Council, Superintendent of Police (SP), Bako Angbashim, on Friday in Odumude Forest following an ambush by suspected Iceland cult group.
Spokesperson for the command, Grace Iringe-Koko, who disclosed this in a statement, yesterday, said the suspects were caught within the community with locally crafted pistols and various charms.
According to Iringe-Koko, the State Commissioner of Police, Nwonyi Emeka, his management team and tactical units, conducted an operation last Saturday, around 6:00a.m in Odumude community, to recover the deceased DPO’s body and conduct an on-the-spot assessment of the community.
She said: “During this operation, six suspects were apprehended. Among the items seized from them were a locally crafted pistol and various charms. These suspects are currently in police custody and undergoing interrogation at the State Criminal and Investigation Department (SCIID), Port Harcourt.”
She, however, said a new DPO, Zuokumor Richard, has been assigned to the division, adding that the DPO is accompanied by half a unit of men from Mopol 48, one-third unit from Mopol 19, 56, and tactical teams.
“He has been tasked with a thorough search of the area, apprehension of the culprits responsible for Angbashim’s demise, recovery of the body, and location of any operational weapons used. This operation will continue, while the investigation remains ongoing,” she said.
Meanwhile, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, yesterday, held an emergency security council meeting in Government House, Port Harcourt, insisting on the arrest of the prime suspect, Gift Okpara Okpolowu, over the murder of the DPO by cultists.
Security heads, who attended the meeting, included the Commander, Six Division Garrison Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, Brig. General Eddie Effiongl; Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Polycap Emeka Nwonyi; Group Captain A. H. Idris, Commander 115, Special Operation Group; Commodore Desmond .O.C. Igbo; Commander NNS, Pathfinder; Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Rivers State Command, Clara Olika and Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Rivers State Command, Basil Igwebueze.
Fubara tasked the security heads to get Okpolowu at all costs, as a clear statement that the state is not a safe haven for criminals. Briefing newsmen shortly after the meeting, the governor described the incident as unfortunate and barbaric, sympathising with the Nigerian Police and family of the slain officer, and vowed to make Rivers State unsafe for criminals. He expressed confidence in the security agencies to apprehend the culprits, stating that the bounty placed on them is waiting.
Also, the Chairman of Police Service Commission (PSC), retired Inspector General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase, has condemned the dastardly murder and beheading of Angbashim.
Arase also commiserated with the Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Command, Polycarp Nwonyi and the family of the slain senior police officer on the development.
Arase, in a statement by the spokesman of PSC, Ikechukwu Ani, noted that the murder of the gallant officer who fought till the end to save Odumude community would not, in any way, extinguish the indomitable fighting spirit of police officers in the war against social disorders.
He promised that the commission would do everything within its constitutional powers to support and encourage the police to ensure that the criminals are apprehended and brought to justice.
“We will stand with the police to also ensure that there is no repeat of this barbaric act, and will also encourage a proactive intelligence gathering and sharing so as to always arrest this kind of ambush,” he noted.
PHOTO: Rivers cultists. Caption: Suspects