Tobias Sylvester
The three suspects arrested for detonating explosives at a church owned by the father of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, have confessed that they carried out the attack in order to get recognition in the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
KanyiDaily had reported how Rivers State Police Command arrested the three suspects after they detonated explosives at a Pentecostal church owned by Reverend Nlemanya Wike on November 29, 2020.
Speaking while being paraded before journalists at the police headquarters in Port Harcourt on Thursday, the suspected said they engaged in the act in order to get juicy appointments in the proscribed group.
The state Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mukan, recalled how the command received a distress call from 25 Azikiwe Road that the Christian Universal Church Incorporated was attacked, adding that policemen were immediately drafted to the scene.
“There was no life lost during the attack. Our security partners, the vigilantes, arrested these three suspects. We took them and they made useful confessions.
“They claimed that they were six in number. They made confession that they were members of IPOB and that they were zoned to different parts of the state.
“They are Progress Owudinjo, 37, from Etche, Rivers State; Apuro Victor, 25, from Ebonyi State; and John Okorie, 38, from Abia State.
“They will soon be charged to court, while we are trailing their sponsors. IPOB assured them that if IPOB is achieved, they will be policy makers in the government,” Mukan added.
One of the suspects, Owudinjo, confirmed their membership of IPOB, adding that they were contracted to carry out the attack. He said:
“We got there in the night and we detonated the explosives. This is the first assignment I am carrying out since I joined IPOB. I have not killed before. I was told that if I did not join the operation that I would not get anything in the group.”
Similarly, Victor said, “The whole thing was programmed. We were sent by one Chinedu. I don’t know where he came from. I am a member of IPOB but we were not programmed to kill anybody but to throw dynamite. Please, forgive me.”
KanyiDaily recalls that Governor Wike had recently proscribed IPOB in Rivers state, and N50 million bounty has been placed on its leader, Stanley Mghere.
