‘Hoodlum brutality’ No DPO has been killed in Rivers, Police says

No divisional police officer (DPO) has been killed in Rivers State, the police have said.

The police spokesperson in the state, Nnamdi Omoni, who spoke with Freelanews, Friday morning, said the public should disregard the rumour that the DPO in Oyigbo Local Government Area was beheaded by hoodlums.

“The DPO is alive, he is with me (here),” Mr Omoni said.

The police spokesperson said no police officer has been killed in the area, apart from the two who were killed on October 20, by hoodlums.

There have been reports of shootings in Oyigbo throughout Thursday night and Friday morning, despite a curfew imposed in the area by the Rivers State government.

A resident who spoke with Freelanews said soldiers deployed to the area were shooting indiscriminately.

“For the past three days, we have not had rest of mind, yesterday’s own was the worst. The army came, they were just shooting. Everybody has been running up and down in Oyigbo,” said the resident, an electrical technician.

He claimed he saw corpses on the streets, in Oyigbo, Friday morning.

The police spokesperson, Mr Omoni, said he has heard of violence in Oyigbo, but that he was yet to get a report from the area.

A journalist in Port Harcourt said troops “have taken over” the Eleme and oil mill junction, on Aba Road.

“The city is calm,” he said.

The Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, while declaring curfew in some parts of the state during his recent state-wide broadcast, said the government could not watch helplessly and allow troublemakers to take laws into their hands and use the current situation to create a state of panic and insecurity.

Hoodlums in different parts of Nigeria have been attacking public and private properties as a fallout of the #EndSARS protests.

The #EndSARS protest, which began nearly two weeks ago, seeks an end to police brutality in the country, among other institutional reforms.

Besides Rivers, other states in Nigeria have imposed curfews to curtail the loss of lives and properties.

Rtn. Victor Ojelabi

Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.