The Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Emeka Nwonyi, has said the late Divisional Police Officer of Ahoada, Bako Angbashim, played into the hands of his killers.
The PUNCH, reports that he disclosed this during a solidarity protest by a human rights advocate, Charles Jaja, at the headquarters of the state Police Command in Port Harcourt on Monday.
Nwonyi revealed that the cultists had sold a dummy to the late Superintendent of Police that they were ready to turn in their arms if they would be granted amnesty in return.
Nwonyi expressed regret that the late Angbashim trusted the miscreants, only for him (Angbashim) to realise their deceit in death.
The CP, however, said that by the action of the cultists, “they have touched the lion’s tail.”
He stated, “What pains me most was the idea of him (Angbashim) believing like he kept saying that these people said they were ready to surrender their guns and come out for amnesty.
“And he played to the gallery, only to know in death that these people were rather crafty in their operation and lured him for an onslaught.”
“We gave you (cultists) the opportunity to embrace peace, no personal interest attached than the interest we collectively have to make sure that Rivers State is peaceful.
“If you will not take it, was the option of killing this man the best? He has a family, he has children, and he has a wife. No! You have touched the lion’s tail. Those men must be caught to face the wrath of the law.
“We will be unrepentant until we put crime and criminality to its barest minimum in Rivers State.”
He said that paying the supreme price was not the best reward for policemen who left their families to protect lives and property.
Nwonyi stated, “As police officers, if we left our family, our environment, our homes for a state or national duty like this, this is not the best trophy to take home.
“It is a clarion call for Nigeria, for Rivers State. It is wake-up call against the barbaric act. In this 21st century, a man that is not a criminal, that his only call was to come to sanitise society; that you should stop killing your fellow human beings, kidnapping your fellow human beings, destroying people’s property. That was the only crime.”
While thanking the rights advocate for the visit, he added, “It is a very painful time for us in the Command for losing one of our best hands.”
