Yemisi Izuora/Hyacinth Chinweuba.
About 21 persons have been confirmed dead in Omoku, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State from an attack carried out by a group of gunmen in the early hours of Monday as worshippers returned from the cross over service to herald the New Year.
The State Police Command said it was aware of the development but there was no official confirmation as at press time.
But the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, who is from the state, said it was supremacy battle among cult groups.
Peterside said: “My heart goes the people of ONELGA and the immediate families of the deceased. This is an act that must be condemned,” he said in a statement.
“The good people of Omoku have suffered enough and this has dealt a further blow on their sufferings. I have said it time and again that Governor Wike lacks the capacity and competence to guarantee the safety and security of Rivers people.
“It is unfortunate that over 1,000 persons have been killed in questionable circumstances in the last two years under his watch. He should stop playing politics with the lives of Rivers people and face governance.
“Since the governor is not rising to the occasion to show competence, we will henceforth partner with all relevant security agencies to bring peace, law, and order to ONELGA and other parts of Rivers State.
“This is indeed a sad day for the people of ONELGA and the only way we can assuage their feelings is to ensure that this does not happen again. Governor Wike can rise above his partisan politics and display the hallmark of a statesman by openly condemning this murderous act and stop at nothing to arrest the criminals.”