Egbeda Killings: Community Orders Parents To Produce Culprits

The people of Egbeda have called on parents of cultists who participated in the murder of seven innocent youths of the community on 4th January, this year to hand over the criminals or face the wrath of the community.
An eyewitness, who spoke under the cloak of anonymity with The Tide in Port Harcourt, on Monday, said their members from neighbouring communities to the community in a joint meeting which included the paramount ruler, chiefs, elders and youths resolved that the cultists who aided rapture the fragile peace in the community should be brought to book.
He said that the affected villages in Egbeda had already razed the building and houses of the suspects in the villages.
The eyewitness explained that the villages of Amapu, Obohia and Ebegu, whose youths were preponderantly Dey-Gbam had felled the houses of their indigenes who partook in the dastardly act but needed the support of the entire community to carry out similar demolition in villages where the youths are preponderantly Icelanders, where they foresee possible resistance
According to him, “it is the custom of our community that whenever a person kills another, the home or houses of the killer will be demolished for the sacrilege”.
The eyewitness said that the affected villages had stated that the only thing that would sustain peace in the community and prevent a reprisal attack was the community’s support in the demolition of the houses of the suspected Icelanders.
It will be recalled that following clashes between Icelanders and Dey-Gbam cult groups, pastors in Egbeda brokered a ceasefire in which cult members signed an undertaking to maintain peace. The undertaking which was signed in August was breached by Icelanders early this month when some of them from the community brought their cohorts from neighbouring communities to kill seven innocent youths who were not members of any of the groups.