Abia Killing: Concerned Citizen Attacks NSCDC’s ‘Excuse’

Reactions continue to trail the killing of one Onyedikachi Nwogu of Umuokpo Umuokoro village in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State as a concerned citizen, Mr Eric Ikwuagwu, has called on the federal government to disarm men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps for ‘inability to use firearms properly’.

Ikwuagwu, in a statement weekend, accused the Akwa-Ibom State commandant of the NSCDC, Mr Samuel Fadeyi, of hurriedly issuing a release exonorating his officer, one Robinson Otobong, who allegedly killed the deceased.

Mr Fadeyi, in his release Thursday, claimed that Mr Otobong responded in self-defence. According to him, “On the 8th of September 2020, he [Otobong] was on a mobile protective assignment for two expatriates of CGGC in a Hilux in transit to Ikot Ekpene from Aba. They were on the Obingwa section at about 1630hrs when they got to a bad section of the road. In a bid to access the good portion of the road, they saw a barricade and some persons with shovels, machetes, and sticks.

“Officer Robinson initially believed that they were community youths so he came down from the Hilux to talk to them. Initially, they allowed him but immediately they saw that he is escorting white expatriates, they became violent, seeking to disarm the officer to get at the expatriates. Sensing danger of harm to himself and abduction or harm of his principals, Robinson retreated but they surged at him with their cutlasses and shovels; he had to fire a warning shot. The shot did not deter them as they rushed him with sticks, machetes, and shovels, trying to disarm him. It was in the ensuing struggle that a second shot was fired and the leader of the mob who grabbed the nozzle of the gun was shot. At the time, the driver who had seen the hostility and heard the gunshots had maneuvered the Hilux to Robinson to leave the scene with the expatriates, but Robinson took compassion on the shot hoodlum and, in a bid to save him, he carried him into the Hilux and sped off in search of a hospital. Wogu was however pronounced dead on arrival.”

Reacting, Mr Ikwuagwu reminded Mr Fadeyi that the late Nwogu was killed right inside his father’s compound, and questioned what the NSCDC official and the Chinese expatriates went there to do.

According to the statement, “Is the family compound part of the long abandoned Aba-Ikot Ekpene federal highway, and will Fadeyi accept anyone to turn his father’s compound into a public vehicle’s thoroughfare? It is important to note that while the federal government which is the employers of Fadeyi and the contractors have failed to reconstruct the Aba-Ikot Ekpene highway after many failed promises, the Abia State government constructed an alternative route to Akwa Ibom State through Ekwereazu-Nto Edino road. Commuters between the states have been using that road without let or hindrance but the NSCDC official and his charge chose to violate other people’s private property because they believe they can shoot their way through and expect to be absolved by their commander.”

The statement urged the NSCDC commander to wait for the outcome of police investigations before passing off second-hand information, adding that, “Trespass of private property is on its own a criminal offence known, and the unconscionably fabricated story of grabbing the nozzle of a gun would be tested by investigators who will simply look at the bullet wound to determine what truly happened. Fadeyi should better prepare a defense for that, otherwise it would be seen that he deliberately sent his men to murder Nwogu.”

Recalling a similar incident at Umuikaa, Isiala Ngwa South LGA, Ikwuagwu stated that, ‘men of the NSCDC should be immediately disarmed nationally for inability to use firearms properly’.