Posted by ALPHONSUS NWEZE ,Onitsha MANSUR OLADUNJOYE, KEMI ADEKUNLE, Lagos on
A police sergeant abducted Sunday in Onitsha, Anambra State by miscreants has been killed, just as Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Mike Belonwu has blamed unending crisis in the state on "untouchables."
A police sergeant abducted Sunday in Onitsha, Anambra State by miscreants has been killed, just as Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Mike Belonwu has blamed unending crisis in the state on "untouchables."
Anambra State, Police Commissioner, Mr. Haruna John confirmed the killing of the policeman, whose name he refused to disclose.
Mr. John said the deceased had a problem with his motorcycle and took it to a mechanic workshop where miscreants abducted him.
He claimed that on getting information on the abduction yesterday, his men moved into Silas Works Street, where the workshop is to find out that the sergeant had "been brutally killed."
Lamenting action of the miscreants, Mr. John said his men recovered locally made pistol, double barrel gun and two police boots at Silas Works, while noting that some people especially those living around the area had been arrested.
Three police officers, including an Assistance Superintendent of Police (ASP) attached to Three-Three Police Station, Onitsha were abducted last week but later released after a thorough beating.
But the seven Onitsha youths including their leader Sidney Igweike, abducted a forthnight ago were not as much lucky as they are yet to be released.
But the Assistant Director, Information, MASSOB, David Mac-David, denied their involvement in the abduction, killings and other criminal acts, stressing however that the movement may have been infiltrated by miscreants.
He said MASSOB will adopt fresh strategies to fish out fifth columnists that give the movement bad name.
But speaking shortly after meeting with his Lagos State counterpart, Mr. Adeyemi Ikuforiji in Lagos yesterday, Mr. Belonwu said the recent blood-letting in Onitsha was sponsored by a clique of untouchables in Anambra State.
"We have a group of people who think that they should have an unfettered access to the state treasury, they consider the state fund as their personal right.
"The summary of our problem in Anambra is our move to check this clique and put an end to their activities as well as recover all the money they have collected from the previous administrations, to the coffers of the state government,' he said.
Belonwu, however, commended the boldness of Governor Peter Obi confronting the menace of godfatherism by working with Federal Government to arrest the ugly situation.
His words: "The governor has done a wonderful job by working with the Federal Government; we have been able to arrest the situation through a joint patrol by the military and the police to maintain law, peace and order in Anambra State."
Lamenting the havoc allegedly wrecked by National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) Belonwu claimed that "NARTO is controlled by the cliques who have held the state by the jugular for years, but we have arrested some culprits responsible for the terrorism.
Belonwu lampooned the clique further; "Having money does not mean that you are above the law. It does not give anyone the right not to recognize constituted authority, what we are doing now is laying the foundation for our future leaders that money is not everything.
"We are building for them a culture that honesty, integrity, good orientation and good character are everything desirable in life. We are also eliminating such things that could lead to this kind of thing in the future.," he said