Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Worried by the spate of ritually motivated killings in parts of Delta State, a socio-political group, Anioma Youth Mandate has called on the state governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa to rise up to his constitutional responsibilities of protecting lives and property and stem the tide.
Rising from an emergency national executive meeting in Asaba, the group noted that the spate of ritual killings in the state has reached an alarming proportion and wondered what the governor, as the chief security officer of the state, is doing about it despite the huge amount budgeted as security votes.
The group, in a statement by the legal adviser, Barr. Michael Ogisi queried how a state, which used to pride itself as the number one in the country in terms of peace and security is now regrettably becoming the hotbed of violent and ritual killings.
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Noting that although a group of notorious internet fraudsters in the name of Yahoo boys have been fingered in the gruesome murder of a female student of the state owned university, the group pointed accusing fingers at top politicians and security operatives as their accomplices in some of these heinous crimes with the general elections around the corner.
“The Anioma Youth Mandate hereby condemns in the strongest terms the rising tide of ritual killings in the state
especially as we prepare for the festivities of Christmas and New Year. We condemn in strong terms the unabated
wave of crime across the state, as the protection of lives and property, an oath sworn to by Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa as
the Chief Security Officer of Delta State, is now a mirage.