Aluu 4: Village Head 10 Others Charged

It is now confirmed that 11 people, including the
traditional head of Omuokiri-Aluu community, Chief Hassan Walewa have been
arraigned at the High Court in Port Harcourt over the brutal murder last Friday
of four students of the University of Port Harcourt.

The state Police Commissioner, Mr Mohammed Ndabawa, who made
this known when the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights
Commission, Prof Ben Agwe and his team visited him at the police headquarters
in Port Harcourt, said a total of thirteen persons had so far been arrested in
connection with the ugly incident.

The state police boss, who spoke through his Deputy Police
Commissioner, Mr Thomas Etomi, said two persons out of the thirteen were kept
behind to aid police investigation.

He assured that the police would unearth all details
relating to the murder, adding that the commission would be kept abreast with
developments from the police angle on the issue.

Meanwhile, in the wake of threats by UNIPORT students to
wreak more havoc over the killing of their colleagues, there is a heavy
presence of security operatives in Umuokiri-Aluu, the Ikwere Local Government
community where four students were brutally murdered last Friday.

The students, who met their untimely death were Biringa
Chiadika Lordson, Year Two, Theatre Arts, U2010/1805036; Ugonna Kelechi Obuzor,
Year Two, Geology, U2010/5565149 and Mike Lloyd Toku, Year Two, Civil
Engineering, U2010/3010094.

The fourth person, Tekena Erikena, who earlier studied Basic
Studies at the school, was yet to be formally identified as a student of the
university.

Stern-looking soldiers and policemen apparently acting on
orders to prevent any form of violence have barricaded roads leading to the
village, while carefully checking people and vehicles passing.

Already, the community has been deserted, as residents
hurriedly moved out after the execution of the students became public.

Pressure groups including opposition parties, labour and civil
society organizations are calling for a thorough investigation into the
incident.

Chairman of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Mr Chika Onuegbu
said: “We have consistently raised the alarm over the manner in which human
lives are wasted across the country and the inability of the relevant
government agencies to address this ugly trend. We are deeply worried that
violence is fast becoming a way of life in Nigeria.”

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) through its President,
Okey Wali (SAN) said “There is no disputing the fact that these show a total
system failure. Neither of these dastardly acts took place in a time frame that
the security agencies would not have arrived at the scenes and prevented the
murders, if there had been timely intervention.”