•Say suspects arrested in connection with DPO’s killing, not for backing Fubara

Stakeholders from Ahoada in Rivers State have faulted the recent claims of the state Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, that the kings of Ekpeye, HRM Kelvin Anugwo, Eze Igbu Akoh and HRM Cassidy Ikegbidi, were arrested and detained by the police for supporting him.

The stakeholders under the auspices of the Ekpeye Advocacy Group (EAG) clarified in a statement on Tuesday that contrary to the claims of Fubara, the Ekpeye monarchs were detained and prosecuted by the police in connection with the gruesome murder of a former Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Ahoada, SP Gbako Amgbasim.

EAG in a statement signed by its Convener, Olimini Chinuzoke and Director, Publicity, Nnamdi Ezebalike, said it was on record that DPO Bako was murdered on September 9, 2023 and the Ekpeye Kings were arrested on the orders of the Commissioner of Police onSeptember 11, while Fubara’s political ordeal occurred on October 30, 2023 when the Ekpeye kings were already two months in detention.

The statement said: "This being the fact which the governor is very much aware of, it then baffles common reasoning why the effort to associate himself and his political ordeal with the dastardly act, except there is any behind the scene details not known to us.

“The governor’s decision to associate himself with the circumstances surrounding Bako’s death has also given credence to comments credited to his Chief of Staff Rt Hon Edison Ehie that he was instrumental to the dismissal of the case in court and release of the kings. This has severally been collaborated by Eze Kelvin and Eze Cassidy who have been expressing thanks to Edison for their release.

“Of utmost concern to us is the governor’s decision, who is the Chief security officer of the state to trivialize and politicize the globally condemned murder of SP Bako Angbashim and the resort to condemning and tarnishing the image of the Nigeria police for the arrest and prosecution of the suspects linked to the Bako murder.

“Our worry in this effort to downplay the gravity of the Bako’s murder and other heinous crimes in Ekpeye is that despite the killing of 2Baba, gruesome murders have continued to occur in Ekpeye on a daily basis without any deliberate effort by the state nor the local governments to end the insecurity.

“In the past two months alone over 20 gruesome murders have been recorded in Ekpeye without the authorities blinking an eye.

“Some of these include the killing of 5 persons in Edeoha town on 20thOctober, beheading of two persons in Ihuowo town, killing of two persons in Odiabidi town, killing of three persons at Ula Ehuda on 22ndOctober, killing of over five persons within Ahoada town, killing of paramount ruler and youth leader of Oshiugbokor town on 8thSeptember 2024 and yesterday’s murder of Mrs Akpani and her five years old son while her stomach was ripped open and the baby in her womb harvested with other organs at Ula Upata community and many more”.

The group alleged that in the just-concluded local government elections, all the known cultists were empowered with political positions to embolden their criminal enterprise in the area.

They called on security agencies to come to the aid of Ekpeye insisting that there was a deliberate effort to exterminate the Ekpeye people.

The stakeholders said when Fubara lied on the reason behind the arrest of the kings while inaugurating the remodeled Government Girls Secondary School Ahoada, the expression on the faces of Ekpeye people at the arena clearly indicated resentment because they all knew the facts Bako murder saga.

They accused Fubara of being fond of misrepresenting facts and dishing out outright falsehood in his recent outings.

For instance, they recalled that few days ago in Etche, Fubara said that the past administration of Chief Nyesom Wike did not inaugurate any project in Etche for eight years.

“But it took a social media post by one of our sons Mr Marshall Obuzor to draw the governor’s attention with evidence that contrary to his claim, projects were initiated and commissioned in Etche by the Wike administration.

“This the governor later admitted and retracted his false claim while speaking at Ahoada even though he tried to undermine the importance and significance of the Wike projects to Etche people”, they said.

The stakeholders added: ”Ordinarily we wouldn’t have bordered to react to the governor’s lies because of the obvious facts of the Bako murder, but we are compelled to do so for record purposes and for the sake of the general public who may be tempted to take the governor’s words serious because it came from a governor.

“We are also compelled to react bearing in mind that the governor did not make such pronouncement unconsciously but rather deliberately to distort facts, play politics and whip unnecessary sentiment from the public.

“Of course, the governor knows very well that there is no link between SP Bako’s murder and his self-inflicted political ordeal as both do not occur same period”.