The Coalition of Civil Society in the Niger Delta on Friday protested against the gruesome murder of a frontline Port Harcourt-based human rights lawyer, Mr. Ken Atsuwete.
The activists stormed Port Harcourt in black attire with placards bearing different inscriptions like ‘End the killings in Rivers State now’, ‘One murder too many’ and ‘Every human being has a right to life, protect his life’.
Others are ‘The killers of Ken must be sentenced’, ‘Insecurity of lives is a proof of failure of the police’, ‘The spirit of Ken Atsuwete demands justice’ and ‘We demand urgent, effective investigation from Rivers CP on Atsuwete’s murder.’
The protesters, who were led by the Convener of the Doing Democracy Movement, Mr. Anyakwe Nsirimovu, also had the Acting Managing Director of the NDDC, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari and the Chancellor of the International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights, Dr. Jackson Omenazu, as part of the protest.
The protesters, who had marched to the State Police Command at about 9.30am, also demanded that the police should fish out and prosecute the killers of Atsuwete.
It will be recalled that Atsuwete was murdered on Monday morning by unknown gunmen around his residence in Aluu community, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Speaking, Nsirimovu, who is also the State Chairman of Niger Delta Civil Society Coalition, noted that the state was no longer safe for people to inhabit.
Nsirimovu lamented that the level of killings in the state was worrisome, stating that the intervention of the Federal Government was needed in the state.
The civil society leader also regretted that the state government could not send a representative to address the protesters, who visited the Government House in Port Harcourt.
Meanwhile, the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mobolaji Odesanya, had promised that the killers of the rights lawyers would be found.
Odesanya, who spoke while addressing the protesters at the command headquarters, said, “The entire police force express our sympathy to the family and friends of the deceased. But the promise I make here today is that the command under my watch will arrest the culprits and they are going to face the full weight of the law.”
Earlier, Semenitari stated that the hope of the people was that the police would not relent in arresting anybody found culpable of Atsuwete’s murder.
According to her, “My constituency has always been the Civil Society Organisations. We are in protest of one of us. We are demanding that the killers should be found and be brought to book.
“The police must find the killers and bring them to book. The CP has assured us and we want to trust him. Our call today is that the killers should be found.”
In the same vein, Dr. Jackson Omenazu called for restoration of sanity in the state, “There are several families that cannot raise alarm. We are calling on the Federal Government to look into the state and ensure that sanity is restored in the state.”
Punch
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