Politics
Nwonfu’s Assassination And Political Killings
One week after the assassination of the Rivers State Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Pastor Julius Nwonfu,the families of the late politician are still in shock over the unfortunate incident that took away the life of the breadwinner of the family.
Pastor Nwonfu who hailed from Ozuoba,in Obio/Akpor Local Government of Rivers State was attacked, shot and killed last week by yet to be identified gunmen while the deceased and his wife were coming from the Port Harcourt International airport,Omagwa.
The families of the late politician believed that the killers must have monitored and trailed deceased from the Airport to the point where he was murdered.
The assassination of the late ANPP Chairman has brought to six the number of political killings in Rivers State since year 2001.Hon Monday Ngbor, was the first victim of this type of killings, a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly before he was murdered in 2001.Many believed that his murder opened the chapter of political killings in the State since the present democratic dispensation
Dr.Mashall Harry,the pioneer State Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the pioneer National Vice Chairman, South South of the party and a Chieftain of the All Nigeria Peoples Democratic Party (ANPP), before he was killed, was next after Hon .Ngbor as he was killed in like manner. The flamboyant urged politician was killed in a build up of the 2003 general elections . Dr Harry had left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)for the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) where he pinch tent with Chief Sergeant Awuse to oppose the second term bid of the then Governor, Dr.Peter Odili. Chief Awuse was then the ANPP Governorship candidate in Rivers state. The death of the ostentatious politician then demoralized and deflated the opposition party in Rivers State.
Chief Dikibo ,former National Vice Chairman of PDP and the predecessor to Dr Mashall Harry was also murdered on his way to Asaba,Delta State.
In 2009,Hon Charles Achor Nseigbe,former member of Rivers State House of Assembly and Ambassador Ignatius Ajuru were killed in cool blood before the 2011 general elections. In all these,many believed that the killings of these prominent citizens of the state and others were politically motivated.
After the killings of Hon Ngbor and Dr.Mashall Harry and Chief A.K.Dikibo,it was believed that the political killings had ended in Rivers State,but the assassination of Hon Charles Nsiegbe and Amb. Ajuru sent a wrong signal to the political class in Rivers State.
It is unfortunate that in all these killings,the police have failed to track down the killers and the perpetrators of these acts.
It is, however , on this note that the Widow of the late ANPP chairman Mrs Blessing Nwonfu ,urged the Police and the Rivers State government to do everythings to bring the killers of her husband to book. She urged the police not to those who killed her husband to go scot free as in the case of other politicians who have been killed before her husband.
Mrs Nwonfu who is yet to come over the shock of the incident of last Tuesday, noted that the incident that claimed the life of her husband will not be easily forgotten.
The widow who spoke in an interview with The Tide at the family resident said her husband was killed,living a work load of seven children to carter for.
While narrating the incident, Mrs Nwonfu , a petty trader,said her husband called and asked her to come over to the airport to pick him ,but she complained of tiredness and requested that he should pick an airport taxi and come home, but he at the other end also complained of not having a enough money to pay for a taxi and that coming with the family car would be cheaper and as well save cost.
It was at this point I try to reach my children on their phones ,but I couldn’t, so I decided to go myself after I had informed him that I was coming to the airport to pick him knowing the family financial situation.
“I got to the airport and picked my husband, on our way back from the airport , the devil struck, we heard sounds of gunshots from all sides, bullets coming from all directions which forced me to stop the car and lied down in the car under the stirring ,the gunmen shot at us several times, they thought I was dead, as I heard them say ,”let’s go they are dead ‘’in a local language.
At that point, they have already shot and killed my husband and took away my bag and mobile phone believing that I was dead. One of then turned me and I pretended to be lifeless, so they flew in their vehicle leaving me and the lifeless body of my husband.
When they have left, she said she raised alarm and started calling people to come to her rescue. I did not believe my eyes as I am yet to recover from the shock.
Mrs Nwonfu who is a petty trader appealed to the state government and security agencies in the state to ensure that those behind the death of her husband are apprehended.
According to her, “With the current situation of things ,I am finished ,I don’t know how to continue in life, I have seven Children, Three are abroad schooling while the rest are in Nigeria. How do I cope with their up keep and studies? She said the killers have succeeded in making her a widow at an unexpected time.
“I can not cope with my petty trading. The government should help ensure that the police get to the root of the matter and find the killers of my husband. Where do I start from she queried””
The son of the late politician ,Bar.Chimaovu Nwonfu ,believed that the Police are not doing enough to find the killers of his father.
Bar Nwonfu revealed that before the last Tuesday incident which his father was killed,two assassins had come to the house of the late Pastor Julius Nwonfu but they did not succeed in their mission as at then, the two suspect were caught ,arrested and charged to court.
But ,unfortunately, he said ,the two suspects who were standing trails in the court jumped bail and have not been seen since them. We also reported the threat messages which my father have been receiving from unknown persons to the police even though the police were unable to investigate on the issue before his father was killed last Tuesday.
He said it is a great shock that they lose their father at this time,but we plead that the police should help unravel and untangle those behind the murder of their father.
He commended the River State Government for the concern shown so far to help the police apprehend the killers,adding that the family is in dare need of help and assistant from Nigerians.
According to him, the police revealed that over 36 bullets were spread on the vehicle and pump into my father’s body which points to the fact that it was an assassination and not robbery even though the assassins took away my mother’s handbag and mobile phone.
He confirmed that the police have started investigations into the matter but the family are not happy with the pace they are going.
Acoording, to him , the homicides department of the police has taken over the matter ,their slow pace is making us get worried. I was asked to contact the D C in charge of the case but several calls put across to him on Friday were ignored.
Mr Nwonfu commended the Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon Chibuike Amaechi for charging the police to ensure that they find the killers of his father,noted that his father was a peace loving man and wondered why people would want him out of, this earth leaving seven children behind.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Police Command said they have open up investigation into the murder of the late politician .
The Police Public Relation Officer,Rivers State,Ben Egwubulam said already investigation had commenced and that the Police would do everything within its powers to bring the perpetrators to book.
It is our view that it is not enough not by assuring the people that those involve in the killing of Pastor Nwonfu would be arrested ,but they should brought to justice, he said.
Nigerians are tired of promises without getting much from the police and the governments. The present administration in the state has done enough to ensure a relatively stable security ,but more has to be done to ensure that the state is free of crime and other killings within and outside the state.
The State government has invested enough in ensuring that Rivers State is free from crime.Apart from donating patrol vans and communication equipment, the Amaechi’s administration has also trained some anti -riot police officers in Israel to fight terrorism which also assisted our neighboring state,Abia to fight the militants and criminals during the reign of Osisi kangwu in Aba.
The ball is now in the court of the police to commence work having giving the necessary support and assistant it required to fight crime from various government organs.
Many residents were not happy with the recent attitude of the police who go about arresting innocent citizens with the aim of extorting money from them.
If the police will for ones do their legitimate and constitutional obligations, those behind the several political killings in Rivers state would be arrested and brought to book.
Let’s keep our fingers accros and expect that the police will this time brought to book all those involve in the killings of our heroes.
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.
According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around election day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.
He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.
He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.
The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.
He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he stated.
Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had the fourth-largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register.
Rivers State alone, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across the 23 local government areas.
Alhaji Abubakar made the demand following revelations that some INEC registration officers allegedly abused their access to the voter registration system to introduce irregular records into the database.
In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president described the development as a serious breach of the Commission’s internal safeguards and raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
He urged INEC to identify the officials implicated in the alleged misconduct and explain what disciplinary or legal measures had been taken against them.
Alhaji Abubakar also called for an independent forensic audit of the preliminary voters’ register to establish the scale of the alleged manipulation, identify affected records and determine how the questionable entries were introduced into the system.
He further insisted that INEC preserve all relevant voter records, image files, system access logs and electronic audit trails to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence before an independent examination could be conducted.
The former vice-president also demanded that the Commission disclose the identities of companies contracted to produce sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 polls, arguing that transparency was essential to building public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had earlier disclosed during a television interview that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voters’ database.
Dr Bayode explained that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify questionable records and establish how some irregularities entered the system.
He, however, clarified that not all suspicious photographs were AI-generated, as some resulted from poor registration procedures.
The development followed public concerns over suspected AI-generated photographs, alleged duplicate entries and other inconsistencies discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published online on October 26, 2026.
INEC has maintained that the published document is a preliminary register and that it is reviewing questionable records ahead of the certification of the final Register of Voters.
The controversy has intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the voters’ register as preparations gather momentum for the 2027 general elections.
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