Following the gruesome murder of four male students of
the University of Port Harcourt last Friday by the Vigilance group of Aluu
Community in Ikwerre local Government of Rivers State, Governor Chibuike
Amaechi has given firm directives to all security agencies in the state to hunt
down the killers and bring them to justice.
The Rivers Police Command and members of the Military
Joint Task Force swooped on the community in the early hours of
yesterday.
Ben Ugwuegbulem, the spokesman for the Rivers the
command said thirteen persons including the chief of the community suspected to
have been involved in the act have been arrested, based on credible
intelligence and video clips of the killings.
The suspects are being interrogated by detectives
from the State Criminal Investigation Department.
Security agencies are said to be identifying the
masterminds of the act through the video recording of the gruesome murder of
the students among who was the son of Mr. Toku Mike, Director Of Programmes,
Rivers State Broadcasting Service, Port Harcourt.
Conveying the anger of Amaechi to journalists, Mrs.
Ibim Semenitari, the Commissioner of Information and Communications said
the governor was not only pained but also described the incident as “barbaric,
unacceptable, dastardly act and unfortunate and expressed disappointment at the
incident and has directed security personnel to arrest the culprits and bring
them to book.”
Lamenting the incident, Toku Mike said his son was
neither a thief nor cultist.
“He had called me to wish me happy birthday on that
fateful day and I asked him if he was breezing home a small family party to
mark my birthday.” The ace broadcaster said when he got a distress call later
that his son was being beaten along with his three friends mobilised the police
immediately to Aluu village, but the mob was beating them, stripped and paraded
them round the village. He said they overpowered the police.
“At the time JTF arrived, they had killed and burnt them.”
Meanwhile, UNIPORT students have been staging protests
over the killing of their colleague.