Crime in the oil-rich Nigerian state of Rivers takes different forms, from political violence, cultism violence, to murder, rape, kidnapping, and armed robbery.
According to the 2016 National Bureau of Statistics crime
report, Rivers State, with an estimated population of 7.3 million, had
the third highest total crime rate and the third highest property
crime among six states with over 4 million population in Nigeria.
Since the mid-2000s, the House of Assembly has enacted strict
sentencing laws to prevent and reduce criminal occurrences, including
tackling the root causes of crime in the entire state.
But that hasn’t changed anything about the ugly situation as the
state has become the most dreaded in the South-South geopolitical zone
during and after general elections.
Barely 24 hours a suspected cult leader, Chima Ibe, was set ablaze
after being killed by gunmen suspected to be rival group in Alakahia,
Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state, another three cult
members have been killed brutally.
The suspected cultists reportedly set ablaze the cult member when two cult groups clashed in Alakahia community. The incident occurred at 11:45 a.m on Tuesday, causing residents of the area to scamper for safety
It was gathered that members of a cult group invaded Alakahia, one of
the communities hosting University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital
(UPTH), in search of their rivals.
One of the residents identified as Michael Wenenda, said Ibe had used
chieftaincy tussle (after the death of his father, who was the
paramount ruler of the community) to unleash terror on the community and
this angered members of a rival cult group to go after him.
Wenenda said the killer-cultists set him ablaze and watched him burn to death.
It was also disclosed that the cult boys, who killed Ibe, held the
area hostage until a team of policemen arrived in the area following
distress calls.
A Facebook user, Ebuka Mattew, first reported the case a few hours ago, and posted a video clip.
A 2014 report said at least 100 people were killed and more than
6,000 displaced from their homes in Nigeria’s oil city of Port Harcourt
as a result of gang violence within a month.
The Lagos-based Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) said
thousands of residents in Port Harcourt and nearby villages had been
forced to flee their homes as a result of these clashes.
The latest violence and killings haven’t been linked with the suspended election in the state, however, elections in the state have been marred with violence since 1999.
A statement signed by Edwin Enabor, Head of Department, Voter Education
and Publicity of INEC in Rivers State, on Wednesday noted that the
process would continue on April 2.
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