Hoodlums suspected to be members of the Iceland cult group have abducted and raped one Mrs Chigbewejim Lawyer to death a few hours after she was abducted from her Abarikpo community, Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The victim a mother of two was allegedly abducted at about 1:00 on Sunday, February 12, 2023, and was found dead at about 10 am in Abarikpo with multiple injuries and blood in her private part.
In an interview with journalists, Pastor Lawyer Steward, an Assistant Pastor at Seventh Day Adventist church Abarikpo, who is the husband to the raped victim cried out to the government for justice.
He said; “I am the husband of the late Chigbejim Lawyer, who was murdered by some group of boys after raping her.
“I am not a cultist; I am an Assistant Pastor in charge of Evangelism in Seventh Day Adventist Church Abarikpo. Everybody in my community knows I am not a cultist.
“She gave birth to three children one is late. The surviving ones are aged seven, a female and a male aged three years.
“I am telling the Government that those who murdered my wife should be brought to justice. Though one Aka Sunday, a Cultist claimed he slaughtered my wife that my wife talked against him and that people told him my wife always talked against him. The said Sunday is a cultist that is the reason he murdered her.”
Mr Steward stated that officers of the Ahoada Police Division in Ahoada town led by the DPO visited the scene on Sunday evening.
In an interview with journalists, Mr Ekeakita Hector Chinem, Public Relations Officer of Igbu Akoh Clan Youth Congress, Ahoada East LGA confirmed the abduction and rape of the married woman to death.
“We have been having a series of killing in Akoh. When they kill nobody goes after the bad boys. No security people go after the bad boys. No political leader goes after the issue. People are afraid. Whether you report or not what will happen will happen.“So, people are living in fear”.
He confirmed the statement of the victim’s husband that Mrs Lawyer was not a cultist.
“The killing of the woman is not cult-related because she is a married woman. Late last year we witnessed eleven killings in that community. In the eleven killings last year, a member of one of the cult groups went to their camp and collected the AK 47 of their master and ran away to their community at Abarikpo.
“Only for the cult leader to send his boys to waste eleven innocent lives and till today no investigation, no action was taken by the Police, nothing”, he lamented.
The unchecked activities of cultists in the community have forced residents to live in fear as they are accused raping and killing at will without any challenge from the community or security agencies.
Meanwhile, the Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign has condemned the abduction and rape to death of Mrs Lawyer.
Prince Wiro, the National Coordinator of the group called on the Police to ensure the full weight of the law is brought on the perpetrators.