Okija: IGP Sends Fresh Team of Investigators
Ohanaeze disowns Secretary-General
By Joseph Ushigiale and Eugene Agha
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Tafa Balogun, has directed members of the special squad known as IGP Monitoring team to conduct a discreet investigation into the shocking findings at the Ogwugwu shrine in Okija, in Ihiala local government area of Anambra State.
Also yesterday, the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the pan Igbo socio-political organisation distanced itself from the recent statement credited to its Secretary-General, Col. Joe Achuzia (rtd), in which he condemned the police invasion of shrines in Okija. The group stated that it supports legitimate efforts by the police "aimed at detecting crimes and protecting the rights and interests of the people."
Sources at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, said yesterday that a fresh team of investigators led by an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) left Abuja yesterday for Anambra to assist the state command to unravel the circumstances surrounding the Ogwugwu shrine discoveries.
Although, details of team's mission remains sketchy as at press time, the source said the team got the nod of Balogun to proceed to ascertain the level of involvement of all those being linked to the shrines.
The decision to send a fresh team of investigators, the source said, was sequel to an interim report already sent to the IGP by the Anambra State Police Command on the incident.
The source also said the IGP was shocked by the number of bodies said to have been found within the shrine in Okija.
He was also alleged to have registered his satisfaction at the discovery which was made by officers attached to the Anambra State police command based on the information they received from petitioners.
"The team is headed by ACP Yusuf Ahmed. They left Abuja for Anambra state yesterday" the source said, while adding that the IGP was shocked when he received the list containing names of people associated with the Ogwugwu shrine findings.
The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Mr. Chris Olakpe, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), could not be reached for confirmation as he was said to be with Balogun whenever THISDAY tried to reach him on phone.
It was reliably gathered that the IGP who briefed President Olusegun Obasanjo on the issue also got the president's blessing to raid other shrines in the country believed to be involved in ritual murder of any sort.
The Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Kolapo Shofoluwa, said investigations into the activities of various shrines in the forest of Ogwugwu deity in Okija, are still continuing and that the police are committed to putting an end to such activities in the area.
Meanwhile, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Emmanuel Ajoku in Lagos yesterday, Ohanaeze said although it is yet to verify the unauthorised statements credited to Achuzia, yet it noted that, "all the information and allegations contained in the said reports are totally alien to the leadership of Ohanaeze and to millions of reputable and responsible Ndigbo who are busy carrying on their businesses within the provisions of the law."
Ohanaeze said it is "committed to the modern concepts of democracy and the rule of law. It endorses and recognises the duties and responsibilities of the police in the enforcement of the laws of the land."
According to the organisation, "Ndigbo will never support any attempt to restrain the police or any other law enforcement agency from carrying out, justly and equitably, its legitimate functions aimed at detecting crimes and protecting the rights and interests of the people."
On the insinuation that the conduct of rituals and the worshipping of deities are part of Igbo culture, Ohanaeze said, "there is no truth whatsoever in the allegations. Ndigbo in the 20th and 21st centuries are amongst the most humane and civilised beings, not just in modern Africa, but in the World."
Ohanaeze said rather than associating Ndigbo with such dehumanising and disgraceful acts, "all they (Ndigbo) demand is justice for all, a level playing field and freedom under the law so that they can exercise their skills and carry on their legitimate businesses peacefully."
The organisation insists that "the existence of the said shrine and its procedures as described in these reports are totally alien to Ohanaeze as a body and to Ndigbo in general; and neither the present leadership nor those before it seemed to have any knowledge of such a shrine."
The organisation further stated that it is not " in support of any other parallel judicial system presided over by priests and gods that dispense instant justice, including the death penalty as described in these shocking reports."
Ohanaeze emphasised that "we believe that the Okija discovery is a major tragedy that calls for serious reflection by all right-thinking Nigerians. We will continue to work with other Nigerians to eliminate all those factors that create and sustain the kind of society that harbours the negative factors, which impede our transition to the modern nation of our dream."
The organisation's scribe, Achuzia, had following last Tuesday's announcement of the finding by the police in the Okija shrines condemned what he described as police desecration of shrines in Igboland. He noted that the action by the police was tantamount to ridiculing and marginalising the Igbo race.
According to the Anambra State Police Comamand, its raid on the shrines led to the discovery of about 50 corpses and 30 human skulls at three different shrines located within Okija.
Announcing the findings, the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Felix Ogbaudu, said his men, acting on a useful tip-off, raided the shrines last Tuesday where it was reported that at about that time, some ritual killings were in progress.
Police intervention led to the recovery of decomposing bodies and skulls believed to be those of human beings at the forest housing the Ogwugwu deities.
Although the police have made useful arrests, the Chief Priest, Charles Okolie Ndukwu, is believed to still be at large. Over 10 registers believed to contain names of prominent people who patronised the deity have been recovered and the police is contemplating on making public the identities of those whose names are in the register.
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