The Ahoada West Local Government Area of the state’s Ahoada West Local Government Area was not subject to any levies, according to the Rivers State Police Command.
Grace Iringe-Koko, the state police command’s spokeswoman, made this statement in response to a stakeholder in Ahoada West raising concerns about alleged cultists who were requesting a N10 million security fee in certain of the region’s villages.
Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police, urged those in the affected villages to report the incidence formally to the police.
For the time being, the Command is not aware of any tax placed on any community in Ahoada or any other community in Rivers State, the spokesperson said.If such a circumstance arises, we anticipate local stakeholders to file a formal report with the Ahoada Division.
“They can even go to the command headquarters and report the situation because how else will the police know what they say is happening if they don’t report?”
She claimed that the police were working nonstop to purge the state’s neighbourhoods of criminals and make sure that anyone suspected of committing a crime was caught.
An unidentified stakeholder said that several local communities in the local government area were already paying N100,000 per household towards the N10 million fee, which they referred to as “survival money,” on Nigeria Info, a Port Harcourt-based radio station that our correspondent was listening to.
The stakeholder said on Friday that cult gangs in Ahoada West LGA had warned certain communities to pay the specified amount or prepare for their activities on the precise day Ahoada Divisional Police Officer Bako Angbashim was slain.
The group (of cultists) in Ahoada West began sending messages to several towns the exact day that they killed the DPO, warning them to pay N10m before the end of the month or they would come and light the entire community on fire.Communities are currently paying N100,000 to survive, which is not good. Apparently, the Gift David they are pursuing has moved from Ahoada East to Ahoada West.
The palliatives that were provided to us were transported and delivered to these youngsters in their various hiding places. Government officials should be serious when they declare they wish to combat insecurity.
Additionally, he urged the state administration and security forces to target Ahoada West, where he claimed the main suspect might be hiding, in their efforts to combat unrest.
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Stakeholder: “The State Government, Nigeria Police, and other pertinent security agencies should visit Ahoada West and search the region. Ahoada West includes Gift Okpara. They ought to turn away from the man when he is nearby.
Gift Okpara is now in Ahoada West; he was formerly in Ahoada East. They need to assist us and direct their searchlight towards Ahoada West. When Bako Angbashim was alive, he once raided certain communities in Ahoada West.
When reached, Madu Madueke, Ahoada West LGA’s Supervisor for Information, Media, and Communication, denied the claim that cultists forced N10m upon a community there.
In response, he said, “The local government is not a ward or village where you will claim the complete communities in Ahoada West are providing money to a group of people. The story is inaccurate.
But attempts to get in touch with Mr. Boniface Onyedi, the state governor’s media adviser, were unsuccessful because he did not return our correspondent’s calls.
Additionally, as of the time this report was submitted on Sunday night, Onyedi has not replied to text messages or WhatsApp messages addressed to him.
