Group urges FG to stop killings in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA of Rivers

A socio-political organisation in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers, on Saturday urged the Federal Government to stop the killings in the area.

The group, under the aegis of ONELGA Renaissance, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to protect the people of the area from impending annihilation.

The Chairman of the group, Mr Henry Odili, made the call in Port Harcourt during the inauguration of ONELGA Renaissance Foundation and commemoration of its slain members, who were killed in the course of political activity.

Odili, a lawyer, said the only panacea to the LGA’s predicament was justice and security for the people.

“You are all aware that before, during and after the 2015 general elections, ONELGA was one of the LGAs that suffered a high rate of casualties.

“More than 200 members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were gruesomely murdered in cold blood; more than 300 suffered different degrees of injury; more than 500 houses were burnt and other properties destroyed.

“This situation has left us with lots of liabilities arising from the death of the bread winners of a lot of families.

“This necessitated the bold step of this great body, ONELGA Renaissance in instituting this type of programme, as a way of cushioning the hardship suffered by these families.

“We call on APC, our great party for which our members paid the ultimate price, to come to our rescue, our stakeholders and other public spirited individuals to please help a family today,’’ he added.

Odili also appealed to corporate organisations to provide scholarship for the children orphaned by the killings in the area and other children desirous of acquiring basic education.

“This gesture will go a long way toward reducing the financial burden of training these children as a result of the untimely death of their bread winners,” he said.

Odili disclosed that the group would make the programme an annual event with the commissioning of the foundation as a mark of honour for those who died.

ONELGA Renaissance was founded on the principle of equity and social justice, to propagate good governance and peaceful co-existence in the LGA.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that food items and cash were presented to members of the bereaved families.