Monarch, residents groan as rival gangs lay siege to Imo community
Nekede’s unending bloodbath
Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
The host community of the Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri and its adjoining communities are living in perpetual fear following unending cult war between rival gangs. Inhabitants of the once peaceful community have hardly been able to sleep with their two eyes closed for one month, as they are wont to constantly run for safety since the senseless killings began.
Activities of the cult gangs have also turned the communities, especially Umudibia to ghost town, as they go to bed early to avoid being victims of the ferocious attacks.
No concrete reason was adduced as cause of the mayhem but an indigene, Uzoma Orji told Daily Sun that it might not be unconnected to the killing of a member of one of the deadly gangs, the Black Axe confraternity, a fortnight ago by a suspected member of a rival cult group at Umuokoto, Nekede. A witness revealed that the victim was murdered opposite the school gate at Umuerim, Nekede.
The situation did not go down well with the rival gang, which according to our source, went for a reprisal that led to the killing of one Ebuka Okereafor, said to be a final year student of the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede.
It was disclosed that Ebuka, a native of Umuofocha, Nekede was actually returning to his house at about 10 pm after clubbing when the rival gang swooped on him.
Ebuka was said to have been chased to the Poly Junction where his attackers caught up with him, beat him mercilessly before pumping hot lead into his body. His death, according to a community leader, would bring to about six the number of persons killed in a week.
The state police command had recently paraded some cult gangs from the school and beyond for various offences ranging from initiations and rival attacks.
Traditional ruler of Umudibia autonomous community, Eze Godwin Mmerenini frowned at the ugly development, warning the youths from his community and those residing in the school to quit cult activities or face the wrath of the law.
The monarch who could not contain the excesses of the cult gangs passed the message through his town criers who went round the community to register their displeasure. He therefore, appealed to the police to put more effort in restoring sanity to his community and the school.
Similarly, the royal father also reported the ugly development to the Department of State Services (DSS) in the state.
In a bid to fortify the security of the area and curb the excesses of cult gangs, Daily Sun gathered that Eze Mmerenini has directed the vigilante group of his community to embark on stop and search of students residing there. He, however, said the community would have been more satisfied with the old form of security partnership with the institution.
According to the monarch, the last administration in the polytechnics had cooperated with the community by providing stipend to pay neighbourhood watch known as the Community Security Organisation (CSO), jointly setup by the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede and its host communities.
“I am not saying that this is the cause of the incidents but I am trying to say that this could help check the activities of these hoodlums if it is resuscitated. We had it for four-five years before it was halted by the present administration, but we have been appealing to them to help us; it was very effective when it was in place,” he said.
Canvassing why the previous security arrangement should be restored, the royal father explained that some of “the youths could be peers, they may know themselves and it would be easy to get them exposed to the CSO.”
Asked if the police were handling the situation, the monarch said they could only do much if they were provided with information, stressing that the community security could easily provide intelligence information.
Meanwhile, the school authority has denied the involvement of their students in the cult killings.
Public Relations Officer of the school, Eva Nwosu said none of the students was involved in cultism, but said miscreants could have come from other institutions to cause trouble in the school.
Nonetheless, relative peace has been restored to the community that lived in trepidation for the past one month, thanks to the anti-cult unit of the state police command, which swooped on the outlaws.
The Police Public Relations Officer of the command, Orlando Ikeokwu who disclosed this to newsmen last Wednesday, narrated how five suspected members of the Black Axe confraternity nabbed by the police became terror to the whole school environment.
Revealing how the cult war began, Ikeokwu said the suspects on March 14, at about 7pm, trailed one Oparaugo Onyebuchi suspected to be a member of a rival cult group to a hotel where he was gruesomely murdered.
His murder, our correspondent gathered, might have elicited other killings speculated to be five, but Ikeokwu in his own record, disclosed that three persons were killed in the attacks.
He explained that the command acting on intelligence report, inched closer to the den of the cult gang before they were smoked out of their hideout.
Items recovered from the gang, according to him, included two Berretta pistol with 2.9 live ammunitions, a locally made pistol with one live cartridge as well as a sharp knife.
The police said they would not rest until the entire school community was completely eradicated of hoodlums.
An indigene of the community, Njoku Okechukwu told newsmen that normalcy has returned to the community, and suggested that the police should often breeze into the school to make some arrest as a way of putting the bad eggs in check.
