Delta Crisis: How We’re Attacked With Charms, AK-47 Rifles, Killing Police Officers–Victims Tell Gov Oborevwori

Following the attack and killing of police officers by hoodlums, tensions remain high in the Ogbeozoma community of Okpanam, Oshimili North Local Government Area, Delta State.

Residents of the community have therefore requested that Governor Sheriff Oborevwori intervene in the bloody invasion of their ancestral land by a notorious criminal gang.

The community, in a petition dated July 27 and signed by their counsel, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, claimed that the gang attacked their land on July 22, 2024, killing police officers and destroying properties worth billions of naira.

According to them, the criminals arrived in the community in about 15 Hilux vehicles, fully loaded with people wielding sophisticated weapons such as AK-47s, AK-49s, daggers, machetes, and other forms of charms, as well as various special police uniforms.

According to the community, the invading assailants spared no one, including security agents on duty, while some civilians were brutally assaulted, wounded, and properties worth billions of Naira destroyed.

They claimed that the gang had used their connections with high-ranking security officials to avoid justice.

The petition reads in part: “Luck ran out for a few members of this criminal gang when the last batch of their vehicles could not quickly leave the scene of the crime before policemen on a rescue mission blocked them, and in the ensuing argument, they opened fire on a police officer and fatally shot his left leg, before they were fully disarmed and arrested.

“The gallant policemen were able to recover a few vehicles left behind by the invading criminals, including two Hilux vans and earth moving equipment used in the aforementioned deadly operation, as shown in the attached photos.

“We were further informed that one of Ekwe Ogidi’s henchmen who was also arrested during this deadly operation had since confessed to the commission of the crime and Ekwe Ogidi’s involvement in the operation and has continued to donate useful information to the investigating authorities in Police Headquarters, Asaba, Delta State, where those arrested are presently undergoing thorough questioning by the police, while the wounded policeman is still under intensive care.

“It is our further instruction that Ekwe Ogidi, the ring leader of these assailants, narrowly escaped from the crime scene and is currently exploring all of his high-level contacts within the Police High Command in Abuja to avoid arrest. According to the information we have, the Delta State Police Command’s efforts to arrest Chinedu Okeke alias Ekwe Ogidi have been futile, as he is currently in Force Headquarters moving from one office (monitoring team department) to another in search of a safe haven and has refused to honour police invitations in Delta State.

“Against the backdrop of the foregoing serious allegations, we most humbly request the prompt intervention of His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Delta State, in bringing these perpetrators to justice.”