The police in Rivers state today paraded 13 persons including the traditional ruler of Aluu, Alhaji Hassan Welewa accused of complicity in the gruesome murder of four students of the University of Port Harcourt; Llyod Toku Mike, Chiadika Biringa, Tekena Elkanah and Ugonna Obuzor.
Others paraded along with the 59 year old monarch include: Ozioma Abajuo, 23; Chigozie Evans Samuel, 22; Endurance Edet, 27; Uwem Sampson Akpabio, 30; David Chinasa Ugbaje, 30; Ikechukwu Louis Amadi (aka Kapoon), 32; Cynthia Chinwo, 24; Lawal Segun 28; Lucky Orji, 43; Ekpe Daniel, 30; George Nwadei, 30; and Gabriel Oche, 33.
While justifying the decision to parade the suspects at the state police commands headquarters, located on Moscow road, Port Harcourt, the state police commissioner, Mohammed Indabuwa, said it was all because of the cruel manner the four students were killed by the suspects and the public condemnation that followed.
According to him: “It is not the philosophy of the Inspector-General of Police to parade suspects. Nonetheless, the gruesome manner in which the crime was committed, coupled with the direct and glaring involvement of some of the suspects, and the interest generated by the heinous crime, left the police with no option than to parade them.”
The commissioner of police assured that any other arrest made, would be made public, adding that investigations were continuing. A mild drama however played out when one of the three suspects allowed to respond to the allegation raised against them accused one of the policemen that got to the scene when the four students were being beaten of joining the mob to kill the deceased.
In his words: “The crowd took the boys to No. 9 Royal Hill, Omuokiri, Aluu Road, where they ( students) pointed at a room occupied by one Bright (now at large) from Ogoni. Bright’s door was locked. He was my co-tenant. They beat the boys severally and very seriously. One of the police was pleading but the other one even joined hand in kicking one of the boys. After joining hands in beating the boys, the policeman said, ‘let the crowd handle them’. The crowd said they will not agree. I only participated by using my belt to flog the boys, and I told the people who brought them to the house to take them away so that they would not kill them there. One of the boys was my customer at the campus. I am a cobbler. He was an Igbo boy.”
Also giving his own account of how the four students were beaten to death, another suspect, Ikechukwu (aka Kapoon) said: “the boys were beaten mercilessly, police came and they refused to hand them over to the police. We resisted their killing them in our compound. I was flogging both the crowd and the boys. I used short stick on them.”
The third suspect who was allowed to speak, Segun however denied taking any part in the killing of the four students.