Ahamefula Ogbu and Segun James
14 August 2007
Port Harcourt — Security agencies yesterday picked up a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly and four suspected cult members over the clashes between rival cults which have rendered Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital prostrate in the past one week.
THISDAY learnt that the lawmaker, a Peoples Demcoratic Party (PDP) member, was invited by the State Security Services (SSS) for questioning as he arrived for yesterday's sitting of the House. He was still with the SSS at the time of filing this report last night.
The lawmaker's problem was said to be the discovery of his posters in a car used by cultists to attack a road block mounted by soldiers last Saturday.
When the soldiers opened fire on the car and gained control of the situation, they allegedly discovered a loaded AK47 riffle and some kilograms of live ammunition.
The soldiers killed all the occupants of the Corolla car before further riddling the vehicle with more bullets.
Blood of the alleged cultists flowed freely on the streets of Port Harcourt before their corpses were removed to Braithwaite Memorial Hospital Mortuary in the town.
In Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, the expatriate who died in the hands of militants who abducted him from neighbouring Rivers and whisked him to Bayelsa has been identified as John Hana-Daher, a Syrian.
Five of the alleged abductors of the Syrian have also been nabbed by the Police in the state.
It was gathered that security operatives in the state are on the trail of Hana-Daher's employers to explain why his kidnap and that of another colleague was never reported.
The arrest of the lawmaker and four cultists came as soldiers who have kept vigil at flash points in Port Harcourt continued the raid on militants' hideouts.
Soldiers stormed the notorious Marine Base and were still operating there last night to dislodge the cultists and militants.
Places raided by the Joint Task Force included Abuja Estate near the Marine Base and other shanty settlements where suspected cultists and militants hitherto allegedly had an untouchable haven.
Though details of the raid were still sketchy, information available to THISDAY was that several arrests were made and some arms and ammunition recovered.
Although the shootings by the cultists had died down, Rumukrushi Area of the town had its serenity punctuated by sporadic shots in the early hours of the day before soldiers rushed there to restore order.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu, said the police were yet to make arrests but confirmed that they had mounted a massive onslaught on the hoodlums.
Reacting to the mayhem unleashed on the state by cultists, former Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon Rotimi Amaechi, condemned the attacks and urged the government not to allow those responsible to go unpunished.
"I am appalled at the extent of damage that these unwarranted incidences have had on the psyche of our people and the reputation of our dear state. I join other well meaning people to condemn the perpetrators of these shameful acts which betray the very essence of our democracy," he said.
The raid on the waterfront said to be a haven for militants and cultists came on the heels of a confirmation by the Public Relations Officer of the 2nd Amphibious Brigade, Major Segir Musa, that the Joint Task Force would remain in all flash points of the state until peace and normalcy was restored.
Other hot spots like Emenike Junction were manned by a combined team of soldiers and police who forced passersby to raise their hands above their heads while most vehicles were subjected to rigorous searches.
Commercial motorbikes were forced to push their machines past the checkpoints.
Mile one Police Station side of the ever-busy Ikwerre Road was closed to traffic.
The Leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Mujahid Asari Dokubo, has, however, denied any involvement in the violence in Port Harcourt.
Rather, he accused former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, and former governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili, as forces behind it.
He called on President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to as a matter of urgency take practical steps to arrest the situation.
In an e-mail by Degbani George, his Media Consultant, Dokubo alleged that the violence was part of the retaliation of Obasanjo on Nigerians, starting from the Niger Delta for scuttling his bid to perpetually cling to power.
"People have asked, what is my role in all this? A lot of people have accused me of having a hand in the present state of things. I was released from the gallows of General Olusegun Obasanjo on the 14th of June 2007. I arrived Port Harcourt on the 16th, left on the 17th and returned on the 23rd leaving again on the 26th and since then, I have not set my foot on my father's land, the reason being that I do not want to be involved in the intrigues and evil machinations of former governor Peter Odili and his cabal to drag me and my name into a crisis that they have unleashed on the good people of Rivers State.
"In spite of these efforts of mine to keep my distance, my name has continued to be associated in this madness. I vehemently and totally reject it. I am not party to and will never be a participant in this very disgraceful and evil dance with drumbeats concocted from the pits of hell", Asari said.
He called on people of the area to speak out and make moves to stop the carnage, saying that they had a duty to protect themselves if the governor of the day had chosen to protect only his seat of power and allow the masses to die in their houses and streets.
"Today our people live in the very presence of death, injury and pain fashioned and manufactured by an evil cabal sponsored, inspired and instigated by General Obasanjo and his seismic clone, Dr Peter Odili, whose satanic quest to perpetually cling to power was dashed by the ever vigilant masses of the various nationalities that were forcefully conscripted into the enterprise called Nigeria.
"Having cut short his dreams of being a life president, Obasanjo said that Nigerians will cry for him to come back after he has left so he chose the Niger Delta and particularly the Bantustan of Rivers State as his satanic laboratory to justify this craze and quest. Together with Peter Odili, they recruited little demons and trigger-happy toddlers to use as guinea pigs in their laboratory. These little demons have now become a torn in the flesh of the good people of Rivers State", he said.
The late Hana-Daher was a an employee of Gocogipar Nig. Ltd., a Port Harcourt-based oil company servicing the Italian oil giant, Agip Oil, when he was kidnapped last month.
The expatriate whose corpse is still lying at the Federal Medical Centre in Yenagoa reportedly died moments after he was released to community leaders by his kidnappers following his deteriorating health situation.
His abductors who are still holding on to his colleague had warned of the deteriorating health condition of the man three weeks ago.
But because nobody claimed responsibility for him, the militants held on to him and his colleague as their demand for ransom was reportedly rebuffed by the employers of the two men.
It was gathered that the man was hypertensive and once he was captured, his blood pressure got out of control.
His condition was compounded by his lack of access to doctor or drugs.
"He was abducted by militants. They demanded a ransom but no ransom was paid and a group of community leaders went to release him. He died before he could be taken to hospital for treatment," Major Omale Ochagwuba of the Joint Task Force said.
A staff at the FMC said the late expatriate was brought in certified dead late Saturday by men of the State Security Services.
The arrest of the five kidnappers was made possible by the community leaders who brought the late Syrian to Yenagoa.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Ibokette Iniobong, who confirmed the name and nationality of the deceased expatriate, said the late Hana-Daher was not kidnapped in Bayelsa State but in a neighbouring state. He added that the police were still trying to get to the root of the matter.
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