… as cultists kill, dump corpse at father’s compound
The Akwa Ibom State Commissioner of Police, CP Waheed Ayilara, has warned officers and men under his command against unprofessional conduct in the discharge of their official duties.
CP Ayilara also solicited for strategic partnership from all stakeholders against crime in the state, according to a release signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Timfon John, earlier this week.
This is coming as renewed cult activities have sent grief to families and residents of Eniong Offot and Anua group of villages and the environs in Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
According to the release, the CP had just completed a tour of the 31 Local Government Areas in the state, police commands and formation, where he met with stakeholders and deepened local intelligence in the process.
The tour, which started on May 15, ended on July 4, 2024, with a call for collaboration against crime.
The release further stated that the commissioner had during the tour reiterated his commitment in providing security of lives and properties in the state, assuring that his doors are always open for constructive criticism and contributions from the good citizens and public spirited individuals in Akwa Ibom State.
“I am in the state not as a master but a servant poised to serve diligently,” he said, and solicited the support of the local government chairmen and stakeholders in curbing crimes in the state and maintained that the police, under his Command, will continue to design and deploy strategic security measures to prevent crime in Akwa Ibom State.
The CP assured the communities that the Command under his leadership will continue to work towards safeguarding the rights of the citizens by the already established Police Complaint Response Unit within the Command.
“The purpose of this tour was to assess the conditions of the Divisions, engage with stakeholders, deepen local intelligence and also meet with members of the communities in Akwa Ibom State”, he said.
After directly interacting with Police Officers within the Area Commands, Divisions and Formations, he assured them of management’s commitment in pursuing their welfare and urged them to continue to conduct themselves professionally.
Meanwhile, the latest in cult activities is the brutal killing of one Peter Ekpeowo, an indigene of Anua in Uyo last Saturday night by people suspected to be cultists.
Subsequently, the suspected cultists took away the lifeless body of Ekpeowo and dumped it at the entrance of his father’s compound, 15 Mbak Road in Anua on Monday, this week.
The deceased with a sliced head and chopped body sprawled in the father’s compound and the gory spectacle drew a huge crowd to the scene.
Though the suspected killers were not caught, eyewitness said a car drove to the street and threw the corpse into the compound and suddenly sped off to an unknown destination.
As an army of sight-seeing persons swarmed the area to behold the gory sight, members of a police patrol team arrived at the scene and the watchers dispersed for fear of arrest.
A source told the Nigerian Observer that ‘‘a supposed ally of the victim called him after he had taken his bath on telephone to a drinking joint at 113 Udo Ekpo Mkpo Street by Mbom Street in Anua.
‘‘As the victim was on a drinking spree with his friends, the suspected cultists strolled in and butchered him and made away with the corpse. As they left with the corpse, they sporadically shot into the air and made away with it. On Monday morning, they returned the corpse to the father’s compound and dumped it there.’’
An undisclosed family source told our reporter that the deceased, who was expecting a first child, wedded at Mt. Zion Gospel Church, Anua a few months ago.
The mother wept uncontrollably. The wife could not be consoled. Even the father and siblings were more grieved at the mindless killing of their own, the family member said.
When our correspondent visited the deceased’s compound, 15 Mbak Road, Anua, a tenant told him that the deceased father, a senior staffer at St. Luke’s Hospital, Anua and the senior brother, one Imo, a Principal in Idorenyin Legacy Schools, Anua, had gone out.
Later, some suspected cultists who invaded parts of Eniong Offot and Anua Sunday night went after members of rival groups leading to desertion of streets and closure of shops by owners for fear of reprisal attacks by the daredevils.
An anonymous source confided in this newspaper two deadly groups clashed over supremacy. As at 8am on Sunday night, traders near Water Fountain, Nwaniba Road, had deserted the area for fear of attacks.
When contacted on Monday, the Akwa Ibom Police Relations Officer, ASP Timfon John, said it was a clash of two cult groups.
Though John did not mention the names of the cult groups, she said, ‘‘Akwa Ibom Police Command is on top of the matter. We are doing everything possible to ensure the arrest of the suspects”, she said.
