By Ayo Yusuf
More facts have emerged on how the dreaded cult group led by David Gift lured the late Divisional Police Officer of Ahoada, Rivers State, Superintendent Bako Angbashim, to his death on Friday.
The Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Emeka Nwonyi, said the late Mr. Angbashim was deliberately misled into thinking that members of the cult group were ready to surrender their arms in exchange for amnesty.
The commissioner who disclosed this during a solidarity visit by a human rights advocate, Charles Jaja, at the headquarters of the state Police Command in Port Harcourt on Monday said it was regrettable that the late Angbashim trusted the miscreants enough to fall into their trap.
He said by thinking he was only going there to arrange for a peaceful surrender of the miscreants, the deceased DPO played into the hands of his killers.
The commissioner however, said that in killing Mr. Angbashim the cult leader and his men “have touched the lion’s tail.”
He explained that, “What pains me most was the idea of him (Angbashim) believing like he kept saying that these people said they were ready to surrender their guns and come out for amnesty.
“And he played to the gallery, only to know in death that these people were rather crafty in their operation and lured him for an onslaught.”
Continuing, the CP said, “We gave you (cultists) the opportunity to embrace peace, no personal interest attached than the interest we collectively have to make sure that Rivers State is peaceful.
“If you will not take it, was the option of killing this man the best? He has a family, he has children, and he has a wife. No! You have touched the lion’s tail. Those men must be caught to face the wrath of the law.
“We will be unrepentant until we put crime and criminality to its barest minimum in Rivers State.”
CP Emeka Nwonyi said such brutal deaths cannot be the best reward for policemen who left their families to protect lives and property.
“As police officers, we left our family, our environment, our homes for a state or national duty like this, this is not the best trophy to take home.
“It is a clarion call for Nigeria and for Rivers State. It is a wake-up call against the barbaric act. In this 21st century, a man that is not a criminal, that his only call was to come to sanitise society; that you should stop killing your fellow human beings, kidnapping your fellow human beings, destroying people’s property. That was the only crime.”
While thanking the rights advocate for the visit, he added, “It is a very painful time for us in the Command for losing one of our best hands.”
He also thanked Governor Siminalayi Fubara for the N100m bounty placed on the head of the prime suspect, Gift Okpara Okpolowu, and his members for information that would lead to their arrest.
“I am saying that patriotic citizens should take advantage of that. Be a whistleblower and make the money, and also help to make sure we arrest these bad guys for your own interest and humanity.”
Earlier, Mr. Jaja has described Mr. Angbashim’s death as a tragic incident, which explained why he led a solidarity protest to the police headquarters.
He stated, “Angbashim was not someone that was not known to me, because I come from Opobo town and there were times he was very useful and helpful to the Opobo kingdom.
“He brought about sanity in our own senatorial district. And his death and the manner in which he was murdered left us without any measure, but to come and say we sympathize with the whole team.”
He however alleged that some politicians were sponsoring criminal gangs, and such people needed to be identified and prosecuted.
It would be recalled that a group of cultists had last Friday ambushed SP Angbashim and his men in Odiemudie community, Ahoada East LGA of Rivers State during what was supposed to be a raid on criminal hideouts.
However, after hours of exchanging bullets, his men ran out of ammunition and fled, leaving their boss whom the state police spokesperson, Grace Iringe-Koko, said ‘stood firm’ to confront his assailants.
Unfortunately for the gallant cop, he too exhausted his bullets and was injured while trying to escape, leading to his capture, and mutilation by the cultists who sang victory songs as they decapitated his remains.
