Murder of four varsity students: Manhunt For Villagers

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.