They recorded the shooting, went away with his wallet
– Residents
Fish out his killers
– Ijaw Youths
From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Okarki, days after the killing of its football hero, Izuchukwu Joseph by soldiers attached to the 2nd Army Brigade, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, was broken, sad and quiet. The boisterous community in Ahoada East local government that shares boundary with Otuasega community in Ogbia local government and Akenfa in Yenagoa local government areas of Bayelsa state was in deep mourning. The grief in the community was heavy when Saturday Sun visited. The community folks stayed away from their farms and remained indoors to mourn the killing of a once local football hero now dazzling on the national stage.
All the people interviewed even though spoke in fear, they were unambiguous in their defence of the deceased and unsparing in their condemnation of the military. They put a lie to claims by Brig-Gen Hamisu Hassan of the Army Brigade that Izu was killed because he was found in a cultist’s shrine at the community but insisted that the soldiers that carried out the shooting in Okarki that morning of Sunday October 16th must be arrested for murder.
Investigations revealed that at about 8.30am on the day he was murdered, Izu, while brushing his teeth had told a distant relation and officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Agie Abadi that after his bath he would return to his base. He never made it as he was killed by trigger-happy soldiers on a mission yet to be explained to the public.
“Since his father moved out of the house for a new one, Izu whom we generally call ‘O Boy’ has been living here with his wife and daughter. I saw him that morning when he was brushing his teeth and he told me he would be going back that very morning after having his bath at the river. About an hour later, the community was in commotion as sporadic gun shots forced people to abandon the sunday service that morning for their homes. It was later we heard that Izu had been shot. The soldiers just committed murder, that is the way we want to put it. They must not go unpunished. It was as if they were on a mission to kill him”, Abadi stated.
Odinaka Chidi, an okada rider who initially did not want to admit he was an eyewitness out of fear, later opened up that he witnessed first hand, the killing of Izu. According to him, Izu’s offence was his hairstyle and the fact that he took to his heels when the soldiers stormed the place.
“On that fateful day, I was conveying a woman to the community on my bike when two Hilux vans with soldiers passed us and entered the community. I slowed down as I saw people running from the River. It was at that point that I saw Izu also running and he ran into a soldier. Immediately, I said to myself, ‘they have got this guy’. The soldier shot him in the leg and he went down. He began to plead shouting that he is a footballer and he dipped hand into his pocket to bring out his identification card. The soldier asked him why he was wearing the hairstyle on his head and he repeated that he is a footballer. He was still talking when another soldier came and shot him. Then I quickly moved away from where I was watching the scene before they would see me”, he stated.
Saturday Sun was at the spot where Izu was shot but there was no evidence of a cultist’s shrine around the area. Mr Reginald Maxwell whose house is located around the area corroborated Chidi’s narration and explained that what the soldiers did was barbaric and must not go unpunished. He said they could go on and spin lies about what happened but the killing of Izu would not be forgotten in the community.
“We are not bothered about what the soldiers are saying, they are concocting lies to cover up their mistake. They shot him and were filming the victim and he struggled with death. He was first shot in the leg and they kept asking him why he was spotting the hair style and he kept telling them he was a footballer. He was shot again and they took his wallet, looked through, saw his ATM card, ID card and they took the wallet and dragged him to the River bank and left him there to die. It was while he was there that people heard him shouting for help as he was losing blood. Some boys took him from the other side of the community and rushed him to Otuasega hospital but he died. This is where he was shot, is there any shrine here?” Maxwell queried. “The soldiers went with some boys that they arrested, but why didn’t they shoot them as well? A day after the shooting they returned to the community to threaten us. They want to intimidate us into silence. Izu Joseph is our local football hero. We won’t forget how he helped us when we defeated Ikodi people in a football match. Okarki would not have someone like him in a while” Maxwell said.
“There is no shrine here. The military should stop their lies. That boy had never been been found wanting in this community. He is a good boy loved by everyone. The soldiers that killed him are wicked”, an angry Mrs Harrison spoke from her shop.
Jonah Wisdom, a youth leader in the community disclosed that the late footballer was shot twice in the leg and the mid region despite pleading that he should not be killed as he was a footballer.
According to Jonah Wisdom, “when Izu heard the commotion and the shooting of guns, he stepped out and was stopped at gun point by one of the soldiers. When he identified himself as a footballer and brought out his identification card, he was shot in the leg. Despite the gun shot he was still pleading for his life. Another soldier came and shot in the stomach. The soldiers dragged him towards the Orashi river some meters away and dumped his body there. Okarki has been known as a peaceful community and we have never recoreded any case of criminality. The Federal Government must investigate and fish out the soldiers behind the gruesome murder of our son and star.”
At the family house of the deceased, the door to his home was firmly locked and all the shops around it were also under lock and key. Anwuzu Marcus who identified himself as Izu’s first cousin disclosed that the wife and daughter had left Okarki for the family house in Port Harcourt, the day after the killing.
According to him, following the instructions of the father of the deceased, the family decided to keep mum on the circumstances surrounding his death as they await the conclusion of investigation by the military.
Marcus however, said the entire family and the Okarki community would deeply miss Izu because his dreams of seeing more people from Okarki play football would suffer a setback.
“Izu was a very nice boy. He was very respectful. He was never been found wanting. He was very humble which is natural to all of us because we are a very good Catholic family. He only comes home when he is on break to see his wife and daughter. There is nobody in this village that would not talk good about him. He was a bright star in our family and in the community. Four boys are on his scholarship playing football in Lagos. He loves helping people. His ambition was to play professional football. The people who carried out his killing must be brought to book. Justice must prevail. As you can see for yourself, the whole community is quiet. Okarki was not like this but we are mourning”
Ijaw youths slam military
Investigations revealed that the Ijaw Youth Congress ( IYC) had been briefed about the incident and its national secretary Eric Omare has issued a statement calling on the military to fish out the killers.
The statement which condemned the killing querried the rationale behind a soldier adjudging someone guilty and going ahead to kill the person.
“The IYC is at a loss as to the justification for the military impunity in Okarki community. The military is behaving as if the Ijaw people of Okarki are not human beings. Our people are being treated like animals that must be killed with impunity. The IYC has always known the unprofessional attitude of the Nigerian military, hence we have been advocating against military action in the Niger Delta region. From our experience, innocent people like the victims in this case are always at the receiving end of any military action instead of the supposed criminals that the military ought to go after. We strongly condemn this barbaric and criminal conduct of officers of the Nigerian military and call on all lovers of humanity to join in condemnation of this action. We also demand for the military officers who carried out this extra judicial murder to be brought to justice.”
Investigations revealed that the IYC has come under intense pressure since its statement as its leadership has been accused of planning a mass action against the military.
Army defends action
However, the Army has said that Izu, was killed near a cultists’ shrine.
The Commander, 2 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, Brig. Gen. Hamisu Hassan said investigation was ongoing to determine what Izu was doing at the shrine.
Hassan explained that Izu was killed when troops, who were on a “confidence building patrol”, moved into cultists’ hideout in Okarki village, adding that the place the footballer was found was isolated.
Hassan said, “Information available to the patrolling troops indicated the presence of suspected cultists in Okarki village. The troops moved in and raided the suspected criminal hideout. One person lost his life at the hideout while several others fled.
“Later, it was confirmed that the person who lost his life was a Nigerian footballer, identified as Mr. Izu Joseph. Nevertheless, investigation is ongoing to determine what he (Izu) was doing at the cultist’s shrine at that time.”
He added that the Brigade would sustain the current tempo of the operations against cultists, kidnappers and other criminals to make Rivers State safe.