The Bakassi Boys! Remember them? The group that briefly reigned east of the Niger early in the last decade, achieving fame for its vicious war against criminals, is back in the news. They have been blamed for the death of three and kidnapping of another three in Abiriba, the town of millionaire traders otherwise called “Small London”.

News Express reports that though officially banned, the Bakassi Boys continue to operate, largely underground, especially in the commercial town of Aba, Abia State, where the group originated.

Ironically, two of the dead were Bakassi Boys killed last Friday along with the man they were supposed to be working for – Aba-based businessman, Chief Iroeke Ukaku. Three members of Ukaku’s household were also abducted by his killers in his Abiriba country home in Ohafia Local Government Area.

Commenting on the big tragedy, Abia State Police Commissioner, Mr. Ambrose Aisabor, told the Lagos-based Vanguard newspaper that the slain businessman was fond of using Bakassi Boys from Aba to arrest people in the community and took them to Aba.

He said: “Even before the New Year, he was said to have come twice to make some arrest and took them to Aba.

“I was reliably informed that a day to the New Year, he again took some people away with Bakassi without recourse to the police.

“The Federal Government does not recognise Bakassi. I don’t understand what he was doing with them.

“What happened to him could be a revenge mission. That was the story we heard. But we are looking at many theories.

“For now, three persons have been arrested. The process is on. The state CID is handling the matter.”

The police chief however confirmed that three arrests have been made while the state criminal investigation department is conducting further investigation into the incident.

•Photo, courtesy gboza.com: Bakassi Boys during their heyday.