By Blessing Amudo
ONE person has been reportedly killed as properties worth millions of naira were, Saturday, destroyed when youths from Effurun-Otor community in Ughelli South Local government area of Delta State went on rampage following the alleged killing of a female resident of the community by persons suspected to be members of the community vigilante outfit.
According to sources in the community, the deceased had approached the vigilante group operating in the community to plead with them to release her brother who was arrested by the operatives and kept in their custody when she was allegedly shot over cult related activities.
One of the sources held that, “The girl had gone to meet the vigilante at their office to plead with them to release her brother who was arrested and held for an offence he never had committed.
“While she was at the community hall pleading for the release of her brother, there was an exchange of words between the girl and the vigilante members when suddenly, one of them cocked his gun and shot her at close range leading to her instantdeath.
“Angered by the activities of the vigilante members, family members of the deceased insisted on seeing the killer of their daughter before youths from the community went on rampage setting buildings and cars ablaze.”
The monarch of Effurun-Otor Kingdom, HRM, King Duku II has to escape from his palace to avoid being killed as part of the palace was destroyed.
Another source in the community alleged that, “When incident occurred, security operatives who were contacted failed to come to their rescue.
The source said, “We contacted the commander of the 222 Battalion in Agbarha-Otor and we were referred to call the Area Commander to give them signal but to our surprise, they only came when the damage has been done and our monarch had also escaped for his dear life”.
Confirming the incident when contacted, Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Andrew Aniamaka said calm has been restored to the community following a deployment of policemen from the Otu-Jeremi police division and Ughelli Area Command.
He said: “The vigilante operatives in the area actually have a hand in the tension that arose in the area but investigation into the incident is ongoing and when that is concluded, you will get the full details.”
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