IPOB kills vigilante, set ex-councillors’ house ablaze
Gunmen, suspected to be cultists, launched a deadly attack on Wednesday night in the Obele community of Emohua Local Government Area, Rivers State, killing a member of the ONELGA Security Peace and Advisory Committee, a local vigilante group. The attack also saw the assailants set fire to the home of a former councillor, injuring at least four people by gunshots.
A survivor of the attack, identified as Eze, recounted to reporters how he and his brother found themselves caught in the line of fire.
According to Eze, the attackers stormed their home, arriving on motorcycles and accusing them of being informants for the police. “I stood up to check who they were, and I saw boys working for a man called ‘Naked’ armed with guns. I immediately told my brother to run.
As we fled, they shot at us. We were four in total, and I haven’t seen my brother since. We’ve been calling around, but no one has seen him,” Eze shared, adding that their escape was narrowly secured amid the chaos.
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The former councillor, Chigozie Woka, whose house was burned down, accused the same individual, known as ‘Naked’—a resident originally from Ibaa community—of orchestrating the assault.
Woka, a native of Obele, said that ‘Naked’ had previously threatened him over alleged cooperation with security forces, describing their feud and pointing to a long-standing conflict exacerbated by such allegations.
Woka revealed that while he was in Port Harcourt on Sunday, he received a distressing call that ‘Naked’ and operatives of the ONELGA Security Peace and Advisory Committee (OSPAC) had raided his house, looted it, and subsequently set it ablaze.
“He came to my house with his OSPAC boys and destroyed everything,” Woka stated, attributing his ordeal to suspicions over his involvement with law enforcement.
The violence reportedly extended beyond Woka’s residence, with accusations flying on both sides. The acting Youth Chairman of Omuobu village in Ibaa, Achor Egberuwho, rejected Woka’s allegations and instead claimed that the ex-councillor was the instigator, accusing him of using cultists to attack ‘Naked’. Egberuwho described Woka’s actions as an attempt to eliminate ‘Naked’ due to prior disputes.
Rivers State Police spokesperson Grace Iringe-Koko confirmed the fatal shooting and the destruction of Woka’s home. She stated that investigations were underway to track down those responsible, adding that she had not yet received a full account of the four individuals injured by gunfire during the incident.
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