Tension heightened on Friday in Amassoma, the host community of Niger Delta University, as students issued a 24-hour ultimatum to produce the killers of Palowei Asayomor Francis, a final-year Political Science student, murdered over an illegal levy by suspected miscreants.
Students from Ekeremor Local Government Area, the home local government of the deceased, demanded that the community release the killers to the students or the Nigerian people. They warned that if the killers were not produced within 24 hours, all Ekeremor students would vacate Amassoma, citing the community’s inability to protect their lives.
Sources in the community reported that this ultimatum caused panic, with several students leaving for Yenagoa, the state capital. Fears were further stoked by reports that aggrieved youths from Ekeremor might invade the community to ensure the arrest of the killers.
Investigations revealed a lack of confidence among the students in the ability of security agencies to arrest the prime suspects, particularly one notorious cult leader implicated in several killings within the university community but allegedly shielded by powerful forces.
Meanwhile, the Bayelsa State Government appealed to the bereaved Palowei family and the people of Obirigbene in Ekeremor to remain calm, stating that it was working closely with security agencies to arrest and prosecute the culprits.
Deputy Governor Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, who presided over an emergency meeting in his office at Government House, Yenagoa, assured the delegation that every necessary step would be taken to bring the perpetrators to justice. In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Doubra Atasi, he also called on the Amassoma community to collaborate with security personnel to apprehend the murder suspects.
“We are pleading with the family and Obirigbene community to remain calm as the government is on top of the situation through the security agencies. Already, the prime suspect has been arrested and is in police custody,” Ewhrudjakpo said.
He urged the student community at Niger Delta University to refrain from taking the law into their own hands, as the police had already arrested the prime suspect through the efforts of the Amassoma community. He also insisted that the community should not spare any effort in ensuring the arrest of the other suspects involved in the murder.
Speaking on behalf of the bereaved Palowei family of Obirigbene, Mr. Daniel Palowei, Mr. Odudu Awipi, and Elder Cletus Palowei insisted that the killers of Francis Palowei must be brought to justice, describing the deceased as a brilliant student with the potential for first-class honors in his department and calling his killing an unwarranted evil.
