Gunmen kill 5 in Rivers

Rivers State Police Command yesterday confirmed the killing of five persons in Ogbogu community, Ogba Egbema Ndoni LGA of the state on Wednesday night by gunmen suspected to be hired assassins.

The state police command’s Assistant Police Public Relations Officer, Grace Koko, told reporters in Port Harcourt that the police were investigating the incident.

Details of the killings were still hazy at press time but community sources said the killers also detonated explosives at the residence of the former secretary of the PDP and president general, Egi Peoples Assembly, Chief Oris Onyiri. The incident which reportedly damaged a portion of one of the buildings in the compound also claimed a life.

Our correspondent gathered that the gunmen also reportedly shot three persons on their legs before fleeing the area. One of those killed was in Akabuka, a community close to Ogbogu.

A source said: “They threw what sounded like grenades at the residence of Chief Onyiri. One of his relatives died in the incident”.

Another witness said security men engaged the killers in a gun battle, killing one of them while the others escaped. The motive behind the killing is yet unknown, but a youth leader said it would not be unconnected with the tension in the area over who should represent the oil rich area at negotiations with multinational oil companies operating in the area.