Delta State Police Command has said that it is still trailing the killers of a septuagenarian and businessman, Elder Paul Offor, in Issele Azagba community in Aniocha South Council Area of Delta State, who was murdered in his office on 3 December 2024.
Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, told Tribune Online on Sunday (5 January) that as the command was not resting on its oars in its investigation, the indigenes and other residents of Issele Azagba community should furnish the command with relevant information that can help track down the assailants.
“The criminal will not call on you to come and arrest him, but people can volunteer useful information that can lead to his arrest. So the police expect the community to provide information while the investigation continues.”
Last week, elders and other stakeholders of the community, under the aegis of Issele Azagba Development Union, called for a speedy investigation by the police and other security agents in order to unravel the perpetrators of the crime.
The elderly man, Sir Paul Offor, a Knight of the Catholic Church, was murdered on the night of 3 December 2024, in his office located at the busy community gate by the Asaba-Benin Expressway within the Delta State Capital Territory.
Addressing a press conference in the community recently, National Vice President of the union, Mr Obi Osiagwu, expressed sadness that three weeks since the community leader was hacked down, nothing visible appeared to have been done by the police and other security agents to bring the criminals to book.
According to him, the community would like the Aniocha North Local Government Council authority and elected representatives at various levels from the area to take an interest in the matter as no visitation has been made to the community by any of the concerned authorities.
“A prominent personality from this community was murdered in mysterious circumstances, and up till now nothing has been heard from security agents. Nobody is asking questions, nothing is happening, yet we are expectant to see action from security agents.
“We call on the Delta State Government, the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Security (DSS), and other security agencies to up the ante in digging into the cause of the gruesome murder and getting the perpetrators arrested and punished.
“The community, since the unprecedented incident, has been thrown into fear. As it is now, nobody feels safe.
“The usual pomp and pageantry infused in the community during Christmas and New Year festivities are no longer there because of the shock created by the incident.
“The Issele Azagba Development Union (IADU) on behalf of Issele Azagba people and residents is compelled to make this clarion call to the authorities considering the obvious fact that the town is under threat, including the buccaneering activities of miscreants suspected to be from some of the neighbouring communities.
“Could Elder Sir Offor, who was in his 70s, have been gruesomely murdered as a result of the eminent role, albeit legal, he had always played in defence of the territorial integrity of his homeland, Issele Azagba?”
Other speakers at the conference, including youth leader Mr Kingsley Nwasiana and a member of the Offor family, Mr Sunday Offor, said the community had never experienced such an incident, even as they want a timely investigation into the dastardly act.
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