The Ibusa Community in the United Kingdom are appalled by the fact that it has taken hundreds of women and youths to bring a series of murders to the attention of the police.
Hundreds of people took to the streets of Ibusa, a few kilometres from Asaba – the Delta State capital, on Wednesday in protest of the lack of interest shown by the police over recent killings in the town.
According to Roland Nwanze, President of the Ibusa Community in the UK: “The situation shows a total lack of performance on the part of the government to protect the people, which is one of its fundamental responsibilities. The government needs to accept responsibility to ensure that lives and property are protected.”
The mysterious killings, which began last year, appear to have taken place while the victims were either on their way to, or from, their farmland in the Oshimili-North Local Government area of the state. Despite pleas from the local people, nothing was done. Last week Friday (12 February 2010) a body was found with missing parts.
On Monday (February 15, 2010) this week another body was found and this was deemed to be intolerable by the community who then took to the streets. The number of people killed so far is six (6).
Echoing the sentiments of the Ibusa Community in the UK Nwanze said: “We are appalled and disgusted by these unscrupulous acts.
“More importantly, we feel that it should be made unequivocally clear to the state that the protection of lives is the responsibility of the government and we are no longer prepared to fold our hands and watch this happen. We demand robust action to prevent this from ever happening again.”
It is believed that these killings have been ritually motivated, as parts of the bodies of the victims had been cut out. Consequently, many people are afraid to go to the farm – which is ironically their main source of income and sustenance.
There is no doubt that had the police taken action earlier, lives could have been saved and there would have been no need for the demonstration to have taken place. “I think the police have been slow to react as it seems to be the pattern in Nigeria.
The government have been sluggish and do not appear to have taken the plight seriously. But there is definitely a need to react and remedy the situation. I it disgraceful that hundreds of people would have to take to the streets to protest to force the police into doing their job,” Nwanze sadly pointed out.
In order to help restore safety to the people of Ibusa, the UK chapter has initiated moves to set up a private security organisation to police the area. “On our part, we plan to, without further ado, put in place a vigilante security group to ensure that our people are protected.
“The situation highlights the imbalance of development in Delta generally, and that has affected Ibusa particularly.
“If you look at Ibusa, which is only 10 minutes away from the Delta State capital, there are no real signs of development. This extends to roads, water electricity and schools,” said Roland.
