Aluu Four In the Eyes Of Rivers Assembly

Death is certainly an inevitable end for all mortals, but no
one is privileged to know when, where and how it will take place. The Holy
Bible condemns killing in whatever form as reflected in Exodus 20:13 “thou
shall not kill”.

The constitution of Nigeria guarantees right to life and
even the golden rule says, “do unto others as you wish them do to you”. The
social and conventional media are being inundated daily of gory incidents of
man’s inhumanity to fellow man and this raises a lot of moral questions on the
people.

It appears that moral values of our society are on serious
decline, otherwise how do we explain the senseless killings perpetrated by the
Boko Haram Islamic Sect in the North.

Just recently, three young men said to be indigenes of Etche
were alleged to have been burnt to death by yet to be identified persons for
reasons that are still sketchy at a border community between Etche and Ikwerre
in Rivers State.

Unconfirmed report says one of the victims was a medical
student undergoing his House manship training.

Unlike the Aluu killing, the offence of this persons cannot
be ascertained and their case was not captured in the social media but their
families are devastated.

On Tuesday precisely October 9, 2012, a middle aged man was
alleged to have taken his own life by jumping down from the top floor of the Federal
Secretariat in Port Harcourt.

The killing of four University of Port Harcourt students by
a mob at Aluu community, which lasted about two hours, has again revealed the
stark reality that Nigerian citizens are not safe in their fatherland.

Infact, it is difficult to fathom the scenario created in
the social media that fellow citizens watched the jungle justice and even
contributed ideas on how best to carry out the extra judicial killing.

Since the inception of the University Port Harcourt, one
cannot remember the killing of four University of Port Harcourt students by a
mob at Aluu community, which lasted for about two hours, has again revealed the
stark reality of the nation’s porous security system.

Infact, it is difficult to fathom the scenario created in
the social media that follow citizens watched the jungle justice and even
contributed ideas on how best to carry out the extra-judicial killing.

Since the establishment of the University of Port Harcourt
in the late 70s, one cannot recall when this kind of barbaric scene occurred in
Aluu Community, even at the worst of provocations by the students, especially
when the institution was notorious for cult activities. During the period,
innocent community members lost their lives.

Then, it was regarded as the price the people had to pay for
hosting such an establishment, so what went wrong? Has the glory of modern
Ikwerre community departed from Aluu? Have the strangers resident in the area
upturned the psyche of the ever peaceful Aluu people for which they were known?

The allegations against the four students range from
stealing, raping to cultism and possession of dangerous weapons as well as
inflicting body harm on residents of the community, leading to the setting up
of a vigilante group which allegedly arrested them at the wee hours of Saturday
morning with stolen mobile phones and laptops. While they were paraded a female
resident was said to have identified one of them as a rapist.

Agreed that the students were guilty of the crime proffered
against them, does that confer on anyone the right to condemn them to death
without trial?

The rule of law stipulates that only a court of competent
jurisdiction can pronounce a suspect guilty of an offence and prescribe
appropriate punishment accordingly.

The lawmaker representing Omuma constituency in the State
Assembly, Hon. Kelechi Nwogu, on Wednesday brought a motion on the floor of the
Assembly condemning the extra judicial killing and carnage in Aluu community in
Ikwerre local government area.

Presenting the motion, Hon Nwogu said “we are all aware of
the killing of four students of the University of Port Harcourt. The incident
has continued to generate condemnation, outcry and even sparked off
demonstration leading to destruction of properties by students of the
institution”.

The lawmaker named the brutally murdered students as Lloyd,
Ugonna, Tekena and Chidiaka. While referring to the video on the internet, he
said the students were stripped naked, laid down helplessly as they were
continually hit with big sticks mostly on the head and later each of them had a
tyre put on his neck.

According to Kelechi, they were initially said to have
stolen laptops and phones and later a new twist emerged that they were cultists
who had gone to attack someone in the community and were apprehended in the
process. It was also alleged that the students had dangerous weapons on them
when they were apprehended.

Having set the stage for debate, other lawmakers took time
to condemn the gruesome murder of the students, not the offence purported to
have been committed.

Hon. Onari Brown, representing Akuku-Toru Constituency I,
blamed the crowd for watching man’s inhuman treatment to another without
calling the attention of security agents or school authority but only found
pleasure in filming the scene to be forwarded to the net.

He blamed the Aluu community for descending so low to engage
in barbaric crime and urged the government to do everything humanly possible to
unravel those behind the dastardly act. “Justice must be done because nobody
has right to take life, no matter the provocation”.

Hon. Brown condemned reprisal attack on the community
because that would not bring back the murdered students, saying that the
students should rather demand justice. He enjoined the security operatives to
bring all those linked with the incident to book.

Hon. Aye Pepple, representing Bonny, took a swoop on the
need to reform the police and other security outfits in the country,
emphasising that what happened in Aluu is a daily occurrence in parts of
Nigeria, leading citizens providing security for themselves in a nation where
survival of the fittest is in vogue.

Hon. Ikuniyi Ibani (Andoni) said he was personally
traumatised by the incident and wondered how this kind of heinous crime could
be committed in this modern world. He blamed the police at Aluu for not
intervening in the matter even when contact was said to have been established.

For Hon. Ibelema Okpokiri, representing Okrika: thes
incident was unfortunate, and regrettable, that a modern community like Aluu,
hosting a university should perpetrate such act in such magnitude.

He called for justice as the only way the soul of the
victims would rest in peace, arguing that reprisal attack was not an option and
blamed the students for the destructions that followed the attack.

Other speakers like Hon. Martin Amaewhule, Victor Amadi, Dr.
Innocent Barikor and Golden Chioma, described the murder of the 4 Uniport
students as barbaric, cannibalistic, dastardly and wicked, adding that the mob
threw away their sense of reasoning , for the sanity of human life to the wind.

Announcing the resolution of the House, the speaker, Rt.
Hon. Otelemaba Amachree, said the Assembly condemns the ignominious dastardly
act perpetrated by some members of the Aluu community, stating that no matter
the circumstances the people do not have the right to take the life of others.

The House also lauded the State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike
Rotimi Amaechi for his timely directive to the law enforcement agencies to
arrest the perpetrators of the heinous crime and also urged the government to
direct the security agents to be on guard to protect lives and properties in
Aluu community.

The Assembly called on the Police Commissioner to
investigate the role of the Aluu Police Station for the alleged refusal to
respond to distress call and to prevent further reprisal attack.

The Assembly also expressed satisfaction with the decision
of the university authority to declare a 7-day mourning period for the late
students, acknowledging that flying their flag at half mast shows a mark of
honour for the departed souls.

This event undoubtedly has thrown a challenge on the
leadership capacities of various communities in Rivers State to entrust only
persons with save mind to superintend over their affairs.

It also challenged the police to justify the job for which
they are paid; to detect and prevent crime, because the commotion from the
apprehension torture and killing of the students was enough to attract the
attention of law enforcement agents and probably, may have sved these four
lives.