15th August, 2019
By Okafor Ofiebor
Unidentified gunmen on Thursday murdered the acting President of Choba Youth Association, in Obio-Akpor Local Government area of Rivers State, Emmanuel Ikechukwu in the presence of his family members.
The incident occurred at about 3am.
Residents of the area said :”Emmanuel Ikechukwu, who is popularly known as Iyke, was shot dead in front of his family’s compound in Rumuchakara-Choba for yet to be identified motive last night.
Residents of the Choba community who are yet to recover from the murder of the Chairman of the Choba Community Development Committee,CDC, Sir Lawrence Igwe barely a month ago, were seen clustered in groups weeping and consoling members of the the immediate family.
In his reaction, the Paramount ruler of the Choba community, Eze Raymond Okocha, said it was disheartening that people were sneaking into the community to kill despite the ongoing peace process in the area.
According to Okocha, the late Ikechukwu, was the youth leader of the community.
While condemning the killing, he appealed to every aggrieved members of the community to shield their swords and embrace peace.
“Despite the peace process going on in Community, somebody can still penetrate into the community and kill. It is very disheartening. I the condemn the act.
“Those boys don’t want peace to reign in Choba because they reap from the insecurity. There are gang ups in the community. I condemn it in its entirety and anybody who has hand in the killings should stop it for peace to reign,” he said.
The Spokesman of Rivers State Police Command, DSP Nnamdi Omoni, confirmed the incident.
He said: “In the early hours of today, August 15 unknown gunmen precisely at about 3.00am attacked and killed’ one Emmanuel Ikechukwu, 43 years old in Rumukachara in Choba, who was later identified as a member of a local vigilante.
“An investigation has commenced. Let us allowed investigation so that we know if there is a correlation to previous killings”.
It would be recalled that at the heat of the crisis in Choba, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State Rivers State paid a visit on , Friday July 19, to the community and declared that the State Security Council had been primed to address the security challenges facing the area.
Wike also stated that security agencies have arrested some persons linked to the recent security upheaval in Choba community.