***Tension Rises in Delta Community After Attack By Armed Gang, Killing of Policeman
Tension is still high in Ogbeozoma community in Okpanam, Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State following the attack and killing of police officers by hoodlums.
The residents of the community have therefore asked Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to intervene in the bloody invasion of their ancestral land by a notorious criminal gang.
The community in the petition dated July 27 and signed by their counsel, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, alleged that the gang attacked their land on July 22, 2024, killing police personnel and destroying properties worth billions of naira.
According to them, the criminals arrived the community with about 15 Hilux vehicles and fully loaded with persons who were not only wielding sophisticated weapons ranging from AK-47, AK-49, daggers, machetes and all other forms of charms, but were equally fully kitted in various special police uniforms.
The community said security agents on duty were not spared by the invading assailants, while some civilians were brutally assaulted, wounded and properties worth billions of Naira destroyed.
They claimed that the gang has been using their connections with high-ranking security officials to evade justice.
The petition reads in part: “Luck ran out of a few members of these criminal gang when the last batch of their vehicles could not speedily leave the scene of the crime before policemen on rescue mission blocked them and in the ensuing argument, they opened fire on a policeman and fatally shot his left leg, before they were fully disarmed and arrested.
“The gallant policemen were able to recover few vehicles left behind by the invading criminals, which included two hilux vans, and earth moving equipment used in the said deadly operation, as can be seen from the attached pictures.
“We were further informed that one of Ekwe Ogidi’s henchmen who was also arrested during this deadly operation had since confessed to the commission of the crime and the involvement of Ekwe Ogidi in the operation and has continued to donate useful information to the investigating authorities in Police Headquarters, Asaba, Delta State where those arrested are presently undergoing thorough questioning by the police, while the wounded policeman is still under intensive care in an undisclosed hospital where a team of doctors are battling to save his life.
“It is our further instruction that Ekwe Ogidi who was the ring leader of these assailants narrowly escaped from the crime scene, and is presently exploring all his high powered contacts within the Police High Command in Abuja to stop his arrest. Information available at our disposal suggests that all efforts made by the Delta State Police Command to arrest Chinedu Okeke alias Ekwe Ogidi has been futile, as he is presently in Force Headquarters moving from one office (monitoring team department) to another in search of safe haven and has refused to honour police invitation in Delta State.
“It is against the backdrop of the foregoing serious allegations that we most humbly crave for the expeditious intervention of His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Delta State, in bringing these culprits to book.”
