13th July, 2017
Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
Angry youths of Rumuokparali Community in Obio-Akpor local government area of Rivers State have staged a peaceful protest against the beheading of two brothers by suspected cultists.
The homicide department of the Rivers State Police command has launched a manhunt for the killers who perpetrated the dastardly act on Tuesday night.
The protesting youths shut down Rumuokparali waterside market and blocked a section of Ozuoba road in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area. They appealed to the police to find the heads of the victims because it is against the customs and tradition of the village to bury corpses without their heads.
The protesters expressed dissatisfaction with police explanation on how the headless corpses identified as Ifeanyi and Emeka Wobo, were discovered on Tuesday, around Elekahia Housing Estate in the same LGA. The victims were said to be the sons of Late Chief Oliver Wobo.
“Let the police bring the heads of our brothers. We have seen their bodies but let them bring their heads so that we can bury them. Please Governor Wike, we need protection.”
A family member, Wisdom Wobo said “the last time they heard from Emeka and Ifeanyi was when they left for Garrison Junction area to meet a friend shortly after receiving a telephone call.
Ifeanyi received a telephone call and came to Emeka’s room to tell him that somebody was calling him in Garrison area and they left. Later, the girlfriend was calling one of them, nobody picked the calls. It was around 3pm that we received calls from police officers and we were shown some pictures and we went to the scene and identified that the bodies were for Ifeanyi and Emeka.
The murder of the two brothers has thrown Rumuopkarali into grief, even as youths called on the police to unravel the perpetrators and prosecute them.
The deceased were last seen in Rumuoparali on Monday evening.
The police were said to have gotten Ifeanyi’s wallet and found his identity card and traced his next of kin to the company, where he acquired pipeline welding skill.
It was further gathered that the police used the ID card to get his next of kin and informed him of the discovered corpses in Elekahia Housing Estate in Port Harcourt.
The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Nnamdi Omoni, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed the incident, adding that efforts were on to unravel the circumstances that led to their death.
He sympathized with the family of the deceased and pleaded with them to exercise patience as the Commissioner of Police has ordered a full scale investigation into the murder.