Gunmen storm burial ceremony in Rivers, kidnap politicians, injure others

There was pandemonium in the Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State as lawmaker representing Bonny Constituency in the state House of Assembly, Hon. Abinye Pepple, and Chairman of the LGA, David Irimagha, and others escaped an assassination attempt when masked gunmen stormed a burial event and opened fire on the gathering.

Leader of the Bonny Local Government Legislative Assembly, Hon. Miriam Hart, was said to have sustained serious injuries from gunshots and is currently battling for her life at an undisclosed medical facility in the area.

Pepple, Irimagha, and Hart were among guests who were in the community to attend the burial of late Kenneth Miebaradima Kalada Banigo, a top politician in the area.

It was gathered that sporadic shooting started a few minutes after the deceased’s coffin was lowered into the grave and the lawmaker, local government chairman, together with other guests, made their way to the waterfront to board their boats.

Eye witnesses said the gunmen opened fire on the guests, injuring several of them while the lucky ones escaped into the nearby bushes for cover.

The gunmen later abducted a yet-to-be-ascertained number of persons and took them into nearby creeks.

Three of the abducted victims were identified as Sunny Hart, Thomas Allison, and Theophilus Ibiama.

One of the victims, Sunny Hart, is said to be the husband of the first daughter of the deceased, who is a Senior Magistrate with the Rivers State Judiciary.

Confirming the incident, the Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Nnamdi Omoni, confirmed the incident but was quick to add that the command was yet to receive an official report on the bloody shootout.

In a similar development, the dreaded kidnap kingpin in Ogoni, Honest Diigbara, popularly known as Bobosky, who was arrested by the police in the early hours of Saturday, is dead.

He was said to have died while fielding questions from journalists shortly after his arrest.

Before his arrest and eventual death, Bobosky, a well-known notorious leader of a kidnap and armed robbery gang, was alleged to be a mastermind of series of atrocities in the Ogoni area for many years leading to the death of many innocent persons, especially his kidnapped victims.

The suspected criminal, who was on the police watch list for a long time with a bounty of N30 million placed on his head by the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, was arrested along with his second in command.

They suffered severe injuries from a gun duel with the police.

“He (Bobosky) was arrested through credible information at Korokoro community in Tai Local Government Area, where he was hibernating with his gang of killers.

“On sighting the police, they engaged us and in a return fire, his driver was fatally wounded, while he was arrested alive,” said the state Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mukan. (Daily Independent)