Murder Saga: Group cautions Fubara to stop deliberate distortion of facts

The Ekpeye Advocacy Group in Ahoada of Rivers State has cautioned Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi from deliberately distorting facts on the gruesome murder of SP Bako Amgbashim and other issues.

This was contained in a statement jointly signed by Olimini Chinuzoke
(Convener) Nnamdi Ezebalike (Director Publicity) and made available to CAPITAL POST on Monday, stating his numerous distortions linking the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike was unacceptable.

Apparently irked by this ugly trend, the group putting the records straight via a rebuttal said:

“Our attention has been drawn to the barefaced lies told by the Governor of Rivers State His Excellency Sir Siminalayi Fubara at Ahoada town on Friday 6th December 2024 while commissioning the remodeled Government Girls Secondary School Ahoada.

“The governor had openly declared that Ekpeye kings especially Eze Ekpeye Logbo HRM Kelvin Anugwo and Eze Igbu Akoh HRM Cassidy Ikegbidi who were arrested, detained and prosecuted by the Nigeria Police for alleged complicity in the gruesome murder of the DPO of Ahoada Police Division late SP Bako Amgbashim, were rather singled out for persecution because of their support for him in the cause of the political crises in Rivers state, an assertion that is obviously a lie.

“The expression on the faces of Ekpeye people at the arena when the governor made the comment clearly indicted their resentment as all Ekpeye people know the facts and extent of involvement of all arrested persons in the Bako murder saga.

The group explained that: “At first one would have been tempted to consider the comment as one of the governor’s usual and frequent misfires in public without facts as experienced few days ago in Etche when he said that the past administration of Chief Nyesom Wike did not commission any project in Etche for 8 years but it took a social media post by one of our sons Mr Marshall Obuzor to draw the governor’s attention with evidences that contrary to his claim, projects were initiated and commissioned in Etche by the Wike administration.

“This the governor later admitted and retracted his false claim while speaking at Ahoada even though he tried to undermine the importance and significance of the Wike projects to Etche people.

“Ordinarily we wouldn’t have bordered to react to the governor’s lies because of the obvious facts of the Bako murder, but we are compelled to do so for record purposes and for the sake of the general public who may be tempted to take the governor’s words serious because it came from a governor.

“We are also compelled to react bearing in mind that the governor did not make such pronouncement unconsciously but rather deliberately to distort facts, play politics and whip unnecessary sentiment from the public. Of course the governor knows very well that there is no link between SP Bako’s murder and his self inflicted political ordeal as both do not occur same period.

“It is on record that DPO Bako was murdered on Friday 9th September 2023 and the Ekpeye Kings were arrested on the orders of the Commissioner of Police on Sunday 11th September while his political ordeal occurred on 30th October 2023, a time the Ekpeye kings were already two months in detention.

“This being the fact which the governor is very much aware of, it then baffles common reasoning why the effort to associate himself and his political ordeal with the dastardly act, except there is any behind the scene details not known to us but then we recall also that weeks before Bako was murdered by 2Baba and his gang, the governor had also publicly referred to 2Baba and his gang as “those Cassidy boys”.

“The governor’s decision to associate himself with the circumstances surrounding Bako’s death has also given credence to comments credited to his Chief of Staff Rt Hon Edison Ehie that he was instrumental to the dismissal of the case in court and release of the kings.

“This has severally been collaborated by Eze Kelvin and Eze Cassidy who have been expressing thanks to Edison for their release.

“Of utmost concern to us is the governor’s decision who is the Chief security officer of the state to trivialize and politicize the globally condemned murder of SP Bako Angbashim and the resort to condemning and tarnishing the image of the Nigeria police for the arrest and prosecution of the suspects linked to the Bako murder.

“Our worry in this effort to downplay the gravity of the Bako’s murder and other heinous crimes in Ekpeye is that despite the killing of 2Baba, gruesome murders have continued to occur in Ekpeye on a daily basis without any deliberate effort by the state nor the local governments to end the insecurity. In the past 2 months alone over 20 gruesome murders have been recorded in Ekpeye without the authorities blinking an eye.

“Some of these include the killing of 5 persons in Edeoha town on 20th October, be heading of 2 persons in Ihuowo town, killing of 2 persons in Odiabidi town, killing of 3 persons at Ula Ehuda on 22nd October, killing of over 5 persons within Ahoada town, killing of paramount ruler and youth leader of oshiugbokor town on 8th September 2024 and yesterday’s murder of Mrs Akpani and her 5 years old son while her stomach was ripped open and the baby in her womb harvested with other organs at Ula Upata community and many more.

“In the just concluded local government elections, all the known cultists and murderers in Ekpeye were allocated councilorship slots which they used their wives, girlfriends or relatives all this to us is an effort to empower these criminals and embolden them to perpetuate their killings and intimidate the people to submission.

“We therefore wish to use this opportunity to plead with the security authorities to come to our aid as there appears to be a deliberate effort to exterminate Ekpeye people.