Those who helped to kill the four innocent undergraduates of the University of PortHarcourt in Omuokiri, Aluu community, in Choba, Rivers State, thought the truth will never surface when they took that decision. Chidiaka Lordson, Ugonna Kelechi Obusor, Lloyd Toku Mike and Tekena Elkanah, were brutally murdered in the most barbaric manner on the 5th of October, 2012.
Revealing to those that cared to listen, Miss Ibisobia Elkanah, elder sister of Tekena Friday Elkanah, one of slain student confirmed that indeed men of Nigerian police visited the scene of the mob action and gave the angry mob the go ahead order “to burn them alive” after they were severally tortured.
Ibisobia is a part-time final year student of marketing at UNIPORT with her younger brother and his friends who were murdered together, narrated what really transpired on that black Friday 5th October, 2012.
According to her, “at about 7.30am, I went to the house of one of my girl friends in the community when I heard people shouting outside. I dashed out and beckoned on my friend to come since he lives in the area. The scene attracted much noise and attention. I went there but did not actually see or recognize any of them, because of the crowd. Then I heard when people were saying, the people (vigilantes group) caught were strangers that they went to burn them.
That they were asking them question, so that they could know their senders, Ibisobia said she struggled to get a glimpse of the students being paraded, but lo and behold it was her beloved younger brother and his friends “I started jumping to see if I could see them”
“I jumped again but saw nothing. I jumped the second time and I saw my younger brother Tekena. I told myself that I was not seeing well, this thing is a lie. I jumped the third time, I saw Lloyd my brother’s friend so, I started shouting. I told them that somebody should allow me to ask my brother what happened and what he came to do. He would confide in me. He was wailing and in his own pool of blood”.
At this point Ibisobia was warned to keep quiet or she will be the fifth victim of their action. Ibisobia was on the other hand thinking that her shouting would have softened the hearts of the killers’ of her brother and his friends.
Narrating further Ibisobia said “As I pushed to find my way, I heard voices shouting who is that? What is she doing inside? People were pushing me and I started crying. He is my brother! He is not a thief. Somebody behind me said O girl run for your life. about two persons turned and asked, “are you sure he is your brother,” and maybe I was the person that sent him to go and steal. They said I should run for my life that I would be the next one person to be killed.
Being confused Ibisobia went back to her friend’s room to alert her family members of the ongoing barbaric act done to her brother and his friends.
“I called my family and briefed them on the situation of things. Shortly after that the police van came, went into the mob and they were talking to the youths.
The people kept quiet as police were making statements “I heard them laughing. They were happy. Then they kept quiet again. Police talked and they laughed again. The next was for me to see three policemen coming out of the mob, boarded their van. And one of them said “burn them alive. “I must confess, I was gripped with fear.
Ibisobia said she had the intention of speaking with the police officers that said burn them alive. “As soon as the police drove off, I saw flames. I was thinking they burnt them after they had killed them. later I discovered that they were burnt while they were still alive, Ibisobia lamented.
The Newswriter later gathered that the man who caused the whole killing was one Lelebori lucky, who was owing the four killed innocent students and when they went and demanded for their money, the sadist Lelebori Lucky raised an alarm claming that the students were thieves.
As of the time of filing in this report Lucky was said to be on the run and the police is after him, while the killing of the four undergraduates is still generating more public condemnation across the globe.
However, Toku Mike, father of Lloyd and Tekena father, Mr. Elkanah had both sent a petition to the Rivers State House of Assembly to seek justice over the killers of their sons.
Thirteen suspected murderers of four students of the University of Port Harcourt were paraded before journalists by the Rivers State police command and have been subsequently arraigned before a Port Harcourt High Court.
Briefing journalists at Moscow Road in Port Harcourt on October 16, 2012, the state Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Ndabuwa, said on October 15, 2012, at about 1500 hours, the command picked up two additional suspects who actively participated in the killing of the students The two additional suspects are, Ikechukwu Louis Amadi (alias Kapoon) and David Chinasa Ugbaje.
According to him, “It is not the philosophy of the Inspector-General of police to parade suspects. Nonetheless, the gruesome manner coupled with the direct and glaring involvement of some of these suspects and the interest generated by the heinous crime, left the police with no option than to parade them”.
The police commissioner further disclosed that the 13 murder suspects have been arraigned before the Port Harcourt High Court.
The suspect includes Alhaji Hassan Welewa, 59 yrs, Lawal Segun, 28yrs, Lucky Orji, 43 yrs, Cynthia Chinwo, female, 24yrs, George Nwadei, 20yrs, Ekpe Daniel, 30 yrs, Okoghiroh Endurance, 24yrs, Gabriel Oche, 33 yrs, Ozioma Abajuo, 23yrs, Endurance Edet, 27yrs. Ikechukwu Louis Amada 32yrs, David Chinasa Ugbaje 30 yrs and Chigozie Evans Samuel, 22yrs.
Mr. Lawal Segun a taxi driver, Yoruba, in a chat with journalists, denied being involved in the murder of the four UNIPORT students.
According to him, “when I saw them beating the students, I raised my hands to prevent them from beating the students.”
Similarly Mr. David Chinasa Ugbaje one of the suspected murder of the four students said he was chasing the murders of the four Uniport students out of his residents and was not part of the suspected murderers.
(See charge sheet in Box)
Meanwhile a Human Rights Activist and Frontline Crusader for the emancipation of the Niger Delta Region, Ms Ann-Kio Briggs has called for the seedy trial of the perpetrators of the killing of the 4 UNIPORT students at Aluu, as the only way to pacify the people and get justice for the victims.
Ann-Kio Briggs made the call Monday in an exclusive interview with The Newswriter in Port Harcourt.
According to her, it is not enough for the police to tell the people that they have commenced trial of the suspects, but that the prosecution must be done in public.
She cited the trial of Asari Dokubo in Abuja during the militancy era and posited that similar approach should be adopted to convince the people and the owners of the victims that they can get justice.
She described the incident as horrifying and incredible that Rivers children could be murdered in that brutal manner in Rivers State.
The Human Rights Activist said it was irrelevant whether the police was called and it was videoed or not. What is important is that the perpetrators of this heinous crime and their collaborators must be brought to book.
Ms. Briggs who is also the Director of Agape Birthright, a non-government organization (NGO) said as long as the crime was committed in a community, the head of such community should be held responsible. The bottom line she said is that these boys must get justice.
Commenting on the recent flood in parts of Rivers State and Bayelsa, the Queen of the Niger Delta said as far as she is concerned no government official has visited the affected areas in Rivers State to ameliorate the sufferings of the people.
Ann-kio Briggs said she is challenging the state government to show the camps and their locations where it claimed to have rehabilitated the displaced persons.
On the presidential categorization of Rivers State as ‘state C’, the Activist said such classification is wrong, since the FG did not visit the affected states before such classification.
She decried the attitude of the Federal Government in tackling the matter and opined that international assistance should be sought since the Federal Government lacks the capacity to deal with the situation.
The NGO Boss said she was more irked because the flooding was forcast by Nigerian Metrological Agency (NIMETH) months before the occurrence, still the government did not do anything to check the disaster.
Ann-Kio Briggs faulted the categorization, describing it as an avenue to share money and queried why Abuja should be in the list when there was no flood in the territory. ####
Stories by Barth Ndubuwa, Allanso Jonathan Allanso, Emeka Jilly Ejiowhor and Alapakabia Tobin.
