A criminal gang that allegedly beheaded an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) along East Street, Ndiegoro, Aba, Abia State, has threatened to sack residents of the entire area.
The deceased, popularly known as “Agbalagba” and said to be from Ebonyi State, was gruesomely murdered, with his head cut off, along East Street, on Tuesday morning (at about past 5am), by members of the gang, who also made away with his gun and uniform.
This is, as another gang, suspected to be unknown gunmen, killed three members of a community vigilance group in the Etiti Ohazu, Obohia area of Ngwa Road.
A very reliable senior police source told Daily Sun, that the ASP, from what they have gathered, may have been beheaded in retaliation by a notorious criminal group, whose leader was killed during a gun battle on Sunday, April 23, 2023.
It was gathered that on that day, the leader of the gang, popularly known in the area as JP, got demobilised in a gun battle with men of the Nigerian Police, which caught him and his gang carrying out criminal activities.
The source said JP and his gang on sighting the police, opened fire but were overpowered and chased up to the Orji Uzor-Kalu Bridge, along Emelogu Street, linking Ngwa Road, Peoples Road with Akpu Road, in the Ogbor Hill axis.
The source said: “JP, on seeing the determination of the police to get him apprehended, jumped into the Aba River (Waterside), and tried to escape through the Ovom/Azumini link of the river before the determined officers gunned him down right inside the river.”
In a related development, another gang of bandits, wearing black, struck along the Obohia Road, Etiti Ohazu/Nkwor Ngwa area of the town, targeting members of the community vigilance and killing three of them who were said to have run into a classroom in the community primary school.
A witness told Daily Sun that after killing some of their colleagues, some of the vigilance members who were returning to their office from outside engagements, tried to escape, but one of them, who ran for safety into a classroom in session, was apprehended by members of the gang and dragged out to the open field where he got shot on the forehead.
With the killings and the beheading of the police officer, residents of the affected areas, while celebrating the demise of JP, expressed fear that the incident of Tuesday, along East Street, where the gang killed the police superintendent, sent a message that more reprisals were on the way.
A resident, who spoke anonymously, told Daily Sun that the gruesome killing on Tuesday has sent thrown residents of East Street, Ngwa Road, Akpu Road, Ndoki Road, and the adjoining Etche and Ulasi roads, all within the Ndiegoro axis into panic, as the criminals were said to have threatened that police and residents will have it hot, henceforth.
“With what we heard, they said they’ve declared war on the police and we the residents. I don’t know what happened, but with the way they killed the ASP, with his head removed, and what we heard they were shouting during the murderous act, shows that this city needs serious attention now,” he said.
A retired police officer, who equally preferred anonymity, said with the threat to burn down the Ndiegoro (Cameroon Barracks) police formation, and attack more officers, it was time for the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Commissioner of Police, Abia State, and other security heads, to pay attention to what was happening in Ndiegoro, especially the areas linking it with Ogbor-Hill.
“The police officer who was killed along Tenant Road by East Street had his head cut off, his arms carted away, and his uniform taken away as well. What does that tell you? The criminal activities are too much, yet the Commissioner of Police in Abia, is behaving as if nothing is happening.
“I don’t know if the IGP is not getting reports of how these boys are causing us to fear and threatening his own men on duty. Aba seriously needs more police manpower. We have only eight functional police stations, policing urban areas of the five local governments in Aba, here.
“Do the Ohuru-Isimiri Division, Ndiegoro Division, Central Police Station, Uratta Division, Eziama Division, Azuka Division, World Bank (Abayi) Division and Osisioma Division, have the manpower and equipment to handle what’s currently unfolding here?” he queried, adding that, “Even the presence of Mopol 55, Rapid Response Squad (RRS) in Eziama, and the Anti-Kidnaping Unit, Aba Annex, in Ndiegoro boundary with Ovom, are not enough.”
“Aba is highly populated and places like this Ndiegoro, and the other side of the River (Ogbor-Hill), and even the Umunkama area are crime prone. This is exactly why this city called Aba is not expanding. The IGP and the commissioner must act fast and take away these areas from the hands of criminals who have occupied them,” he pleaded.
Abia police Spokesperson, Geoffrey Ogbonna, did not respond to the calls and messages placed on his mobile lines when efforts were made to get an official response from police on the incidents.
