On Tuesday afternoon, while I sat out having nice moments with few friends at a serene location in the heart of Owerri, the Imo State capital, a business man based in the state came in with reports that distorted our quiet and eventful gathering.
Apart from that, our gist was connected to the merits and demerits of the planned protests by fellows who feel agrieved over the state of the nations scheduled for the first week of August, the different models of the reigning “Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo” dancing styles dominated discussions as our eyes glued on our phones feeding on the displays of content creators exploiting the Mike Ejeagha music recreated for attention by Brian Jotter, a social media personality.
The fellow who broke into our gathering requested us to help him thank God for saving his dear life from stray bullets targeted at his end.
He told us how he managed to escape bullet hit, by whiskers, by yet to be identified gunmen who took over part of Owerri Okigwe Road by Nkwo Orji and shot sporadically to scare people away.
According to him, gun shots rained torrents in the area with yet to be established casualties even as residents ran helter-skelter before a heavy duty dirty-carrying articulated vehicle belonging to the state government was set ablaze in the process.
Panting to the fullest, his pathetic story ended our attention revolving around the Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo craze.
Another fellow who walked in earlier added bite to the distraction with another insecurity story suggesting another brand of Gwo Gwo Ngwo dance in Imo State other than the one trending online. The middle aged man, a car dealer, told us how he went to purchase a vehicle from Oguta town in Oguta LGA of Imo State, and drove for about 57km into Owerri without a single police checkpoint.
Giving further revelation about his experience, the fellow disclosed that unlike in the past, he expected to encounter not less than five security checkpoints before entering Owerri. At that point, the few of us residing outside the centre of the town in satellite locations near Owerri metropolis had to look for our car keys for home bound moves.
There is no gainsaying the fact that fear of the unknown, fertilized by the nefarious activities of the unknown gunmen, high rate of kidnapping incidents and cases of armed robbery incidents have been part of the society in the South East region, with Imo State having its fair share of the abnormalities. But the sad stories in Owerri and environs since the beginning of the week show that it is another Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo panorama in the state different from the show going on in the social media.
Permit me to state that the Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo music bouyed by the special dancing steps is gaining prominence in the social media of late. While the hype has gained momentum in the internet space, those within Owerri and surrounding areas are regaling with safety dance styles.
On Monday, signs of impending doom erupted on the ever busy Owerri-Onitsha road, at Irete, a gateway community to the state capital, where dare- devil unknown gunmen struck sending four policemen to their grave early.
From what was gathered, the unknown gunmen ambushed the slain policemen and opened fire on them moments they touched down to their regular stop and search point on the road.
Fully armed to the teeth, they emptied all bullets into the bodies of their victims before speeding off. Very saddening to state that it was not only police men who were gunned down, but also a young woman, believed to be a POS operator within the vicinity of the incident. She was hit by a stray bullet of the gunmen. In all five persons lost their lives with few injured.
It was also said that even at Umuelemai Junction, near the Isiala Mbano LGA headquarters, suspected gunmen struck with one found dead and a car set ablaze.
While the dust raised by the atrocities of the unknown gunmen was yet to rest that Monday, same day in the evening, suspected kidnap gang missed their target by whiskers in one of the inland bridges connecting Old Owerri to New Owerri, through Nworie River, in the state capital.
Eye witnesses account reported that a man driving a white hilux vehicle was double crossed on the road by four gun-totting young men believe to be kidnappers.
While trying to force the man to a stop, two of them moved out to open the car doors to abduct him, before the victim swiftly changed direction and escaped with his vehicle. The operation was unsuccessful because the kidnappers couldn’t open the car doors before the man sped away. However, what was believed to have foiled the abduction was the presence of about three armed policemen keeping guard in a private residence nearby. It was believed that having noticed the presence of the armed policemen, the criminals hurriedly left the scene and allowed the man to escape unhurt.
Barely 24 hours after the bloody Monday outing in Irete and other parts of the state, yet to be indentified gunmen again launched another terrific offensive against residents of the state residing in Orji,Uratta, Owerri North LGA.
Orji is a tickly populated urban areas near Owerri Municipality.
Confusion erupted when trigger-happy tormentors stormed Orji area and embarked on shooting spree after robbing a young business man in his shop. The business man couldn’t survive the attack as he was killed in the process, while his white Mercedes Benz jeep was abandoned.
The fleeing gunmen set ablaze a government owned vehicle belonging to the Imo Waste Management Agency at Nkwo Orji market location as staccato of gun shots reigned all over the place forcing residents to scamper for safety.
The gunmen were said to have warned residents to stay in their houses and avoid coming out during sit-at-home if they valued their lives.
Similarly, the oddities continued same Tuesday in Nworieubi part of Mbaitoli LGA of the state as reports have it that unknown gunmen brought down two men their identities could not be ascertained before this commentary went to bed.
Video evidences showed how the perpetrators undertook the dastardly act.
What happened previously was a child’s play compared to the disturbing scenarios on Wednesday. It was confusion everywhere in Owerri town with residents scared of their safety. Yours truly was about driving out from a residential estate in New Owerri in the morning when a fear-stricken lady on top of a motorcycle barked at me to reverse and head back home claiming there was shooting at World Bank Last Roundabout in the World Bank/Federal Housing and Imo Housing Estate end. Caution demands I put a stop to my movement to observe proceedings. Car owners drove in mad seccesion with reverse gears on.
Later, one person who resides near Whetheral Road confirmed shootings like exchanges of gun fire before I learnt that unknown gunmen attempted to break through into the Owerri prisons before they were repelled by armed security operatives stationed at the place. Consequently, with the rowdy situation, business and commercial activities were shot down immediately as residents recoiled to safe locations.
In the face of the disturbing trend, residents of the state are applying precautionary measures to avoid being caught in the web of the violence for now.
But one would ask where are security agencies and what are they doing in furtherance of security of lives and property?
Moments after the Monday incident where police lost four operatives, the Commissioner of Police Imo State Command, CP Aboki Danjuma condemned the attack and gruesome murder of his men on duty which he blamed on members of the proscribed IPOB/ESN.
The only soothing measure the CP gave was that he had deployed the Command’s Tactical Units with the available operational assets and intelligence to go all out in synergy with other security agencies and hunt down the hoodlums responsible for the attack.
But while the CP Aboki Danjuma was dishing out his statement, the unknown gunmen were having a field day in different sections of the state, thereby questioning the capacity of the police in the state combating the menace of the rampaging criminals.
So far and as at the time this piece was rested on Wednesday morning, police is yet to inform the public of any arrest made from the incidents. Even details of the Wednesday morning disturbances were yet to be released fuelling more dangers that security operatives in the state may be incompetent to secure the people.
This brings to highlight the indecent operations of police operatives in the state, especially those on road blocks and stop and search exercises on major roads.
It’s common to see police checkpoints on major roads in the state. In most cases maintaining one kilometer distance to each other. But what transpires is that the policemen on duty only run a kind of “toll gate” racketeering where motorists, especially, the commercial vehicle operators are forced to pay police at gunpoint at the checkpoints.
Instead of maintaining expected agility and and intelligence surveillance on the roads to either identify criminal elements or be combat ready for for the ubiquitous gunmen, attention of policemen are focused on commercial vehicle drivers for trademark “Roger” show.
They also shift attention to the noveau riche in the Owerri society, called Yahoo Boys who are at their mercy because of the flashy cars and expensive lifestyles they showcase on the roads. At each checkpoint, common sight of one policeman standing with a suspected Yahoo Boy become regular scene.
Lack of concentration by policemen on duty has dealt devastating blow on them leading to unknown gunmen feasting on security agencies regularly at checkpoints.
It’s expected that men of the Nigeria Police in Imo State should change pattern to undermine the collection of tolls on road and be more proactive to combat the menace of unknown gunmen.
Statistics of security operatives killed by gunmen while on checkpoints in recent times would have informed police authorities to adopt more strategic means to not only avoid calamities befalling them but also ensure protection of lives and property.
Honestly, the disturbing developments have taken the shine off the trending Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo panorama that caught the fancy of many in the social media. What people in Owerri and environs now watch are obscene videos of how unknown gunmen are wrecking havoc in the society.
Like one of my late Uncles noted for his witty sayings during lifetime would ask “who will bell the cat?”
