The Anambra State police command has raised the alarm over the alleged plot by family members of those killed during the Nibo community’s Onwa Asaa festival celebration in the Awka-South local government area on Sunday to frustrate investigations into the circumstances that led to their death.
Sources in Nibo had put the number of those killed when a suspected gang of cultists stormed a restaurant in the town on Sunday in a Lexus SUV, during the community’s traditional Onwa Asaa festival celebration, opened fire on those drinking, eating and making merriment to 15 persons.
But the public relations officer of the state police command, superintendent of police, SP Tochukwu Ikenga in a statement yesterday said only five persons were killed while three people were seriously injured and were being treated in a hospital.
In the statement titled “Update On Cult-Related Killing In Nibo: Anambra State Police Remains Committed To Arrest The Perpetrators, Frowns At The Act Of Conspiracy To Bury Evidence And Disrupt The Ongoing Investigation” the state police command image-maker accused family members of the deceased of trying to impede investigations aimed at unravelling circumstances that caused their gruesome murder.
He said that the commissioner of police in the state, CP Nnaghe Itam lead a team of the command’s operatives to the scene on a spot assessment only to discover that the family members of the deceased were trying to cover up the circumstances of their death.
“Anambra State Police Command remains committed to the ongoing investigation and to arrest the perpetrators of the cult-related killings in Nibo yesterday 20/10/2024, which recorded five persons dead and three others seriously injured and currently receiving treatment in a hospital.
“The Command also frown at the act of some deceased relatives to bury evidence, suppress information and disrupt the ongoing investigation.
“Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police *CP Nnaghe Obono Itam* today 21/10/2024 led Police Operatives to the scene on a spot assessment and Stated that the Command had redoubled its efforts to leave no stone unturned in hunting down the assailants,” SP Ikenga stated further.
