By Prince Woke
The Elele Police Division of the Rivers State Police Command has arrested one Godspower, a member of a vigilante group known as OSPAC, along with his girlfriend and her son, for allegedly beating a man, Confidence Ikechi, to death. The deceased, a father of two, was said to have had a quarrel with the OSPAC personnel’s girlfriend before the incident.
Chiwenkpe Ikechi, elder brother to the deceased, narrated the incident to journalists, stating that his brother returned from work around 11 p.m. and stopped briefly at his workplace to have a drink before heading home. According to him, a female resident in the compound confronted Confidence, accusing him of being drunk and smelling badly.
He claimed the woman spat on Confidence and slapped him, prompting Confidence to slap her back. The woman and her son allegedly began hitting Confidence with a stick before she fled to call her boyfriend, an OSPAC member.
Chiwenkpe further stated that the OSPAC personnel, accompanied by another man, returned with weapons and attacked his brother. “They used sticks and machetes to hit him on the chest, stomach and back until he started bleeding. They came prepared and they killed him,” he said.
He added that after rushing to the police station the following morning, he returned to find that the OSPAC personnel had come back to the scene to confirm if Confidence was dead and allegedly left a warning that no one could challenge them.
“The OSPAC members, including Godspower and one Jboy, threatened to kill me and my mother too. As I was leaving the compound, they pointed guns at us and said this case would not go anywhere. They told me to enter their Sienna vehicle and when I refused, they threatened to kill me,” he said.
Chiwenkpe explained that it was based on the information they provided that the police were able to arrest the suspects. He said the case has since been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Port Harcourt, and called for justice. “We want them to be sentenced. They cannot kill the young boy and go free,” he said.
As of press time, the Public Relations Officer of the Rivers State Police Command, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, was yet to respond to enquiries. However, sources confirmed that the OSPAC personnel, Godspower, his girlfriend, and her son were in custody at SCIID, Port Harcourt.
