Imo community asks government, police to stop ‘attacks, killings by bandits’

Residents of Mgbala Agwa in Oguta LGA of Imo have asked the state government and the police to stop the incessant attacks and killings by suspected bandits in the community. 

In a statememt on Monday, the residents said “over 150 people” have been killed while “properties worth billions of naira destroyed” by the bandits in the community in “over a decade”.

They accused the Imo state government and the police of “a delayed and inadequate response to address the escalating crisis”.

“In February 2022, they murdered a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Christian Kpatuma. He was killed in his house in Mgbala Agwa,” the statement reads.

“In August 2022, gunmen burnt two female police officers to death alongside two other male officers on duty at the Agwa Divisional Police Station. They also went to the house of one commercial motorcyclist known as Ejike and shot him dead while his wife survived gunshot injuries.

“On Monday, 14 November 2022, the gunmen killed the traditional ruler of Obudi Agwa community, Eze (Dr.) Ignatius Asor and two of his aides in his palace.

“On 5 August 2023, the bandits attacked Agwa Divisional Police headquarters and burnt down the station, killing four police officers. They sacked the vigilante group and burnt the Mgbala Agwa Police Post used by the community vigilante group.”

According to the statement, the latest of the attacks was the murder of Stanley Ojinaka, a point of sale (POS) operator who was killed in January 2024.

While noting that Ojedi Ajoku, a suspected bandit known as Akoro, was arrested by troops of the Nigerian Army on January 22, the residents expressed worries that “he might be released to continue terrorising the communities”.

They said Akoro “confessed that his group enjoys the tacit support of security agencies in Oguta LGA and Nigerian police”.

The residents added that the suspect said “he has recruited more boys and acquired more arms to unleash further mayhem on the community”.

They called on the Imo government for “a comprehensive investigation into these attacks” while also asking for “accountability and sustainable effort” by the security agencies.

The people also urged the state government to ensure the perpetrators of the violence are brought to book and find “a permanent solution to the perennial insecurity in the Agwa clan”.