The Rivers State Police Command has released a statement which claims that the death of Pastor Geoffrey Ogagaghene and six other persons as a result of Thursday’s raid of Ohali-Elu town in Ogba/Egbema was the handiwork of suspected herdsmen.
In the statement, the State Police command denied the reports which stated that no less than 16 people were killed during the raid by the suspected herdsmen.
The statement signed by the State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ahmad Muhammad, on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Musa Kimo, stated that only seven persons were killed during the raid.
The statement reads: “The Command found it instructive to state that on Thursday 30/03/2016 at about 5:30 am, the police in Egi Division received a report that on Wednesday 29/03/2016 at about 10:00 pm unidentified assailants suspected to be herdsmen struck in Ohali-Elu town leaving one Pastor Geoffrey Ogagaghene with severe cutlass cuts that later led to his death.
“It is also pertinent to state that in the build-up to the attack, there was a case of stealing of unspecified number of cows belonging to some herdsmen allegedly perpetrated by the youths of the community, but the case was never reported to the police.
“It is reasonably suspected that the attack might have been carried out by the herdsmen as reprisal for stealing their cows. Unconfirmed sources indicated six other persons lost their lives after the attack.
“But the death of these six persons still remains unconfirmed for the simple reason that the police neither recovered nor visibly saw the corpses at the time of responding to the incident,
“The situation now in Ohali-Elu town is calm as the Command has taken full control with the deployment of adequate armed mobile policemen to forestall further breakdown of law and order.
He added that: “Investigation into the incident is now at its peak with a view to bringing the outcome to members of the public and perpetrators of the dastardly act to justice,”