Suspected Cultists Kill Ceiling Tile Installer in Yenagoa.

By Alambo Datonye

TRACKING____Residents along the Azikoro-Agbura Road in Yenagoa want the Bayelsa State government and security agencies to protect them against men of the underworld who are now frequently invading the area.

This followed the invasion of a neighborhood in the suburbs of the State capital by unidentified armed men who shot and killed a man in his thirties identified as Senitonkumo Otu, popularly known as Murphy.

Some inhabitants said the the victim who hails from Oweikorogha community in Southern Ijaw may have been killed by some suspected cultists on a mission for a different target.

The life of Senitonkumo Otu, known as Murphy was cut short by some armed men suspected to be cultists who invaded his neighbourhood around midnight opposite Solotek Oil and Gas Filling Station along the Azikoro-Agbura Road.

Landlord of the deceased who was a suspended ceiling tile installer, Mr. Allen Ofoin who narrated what happened said for the two years he stayed in his property, he was a law abiding and easy going tenant.

Investigations by this Reporter reveal that the gunmen suspected to be cultists were on a mission searching for their target whose nickname was given as ‘Peerooo’ before Murphy accidentally met them and was shot in the process.

Two neighbours of the deceased, Pere Tuboebi and Father Dokpere noted that the absence of power supply and police patrols may be factors that are responsible for the rising wave of criminal activities in the area.

A former Councillor in Yenagoa Local Government Area, Amasa Pulovie described the incident as unfortunate, calling for the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators.

Immediate elder brother to Murphy, Ifiemi Otu who wept uncontrollably said the victim was the last in a family of nine children comprising six men and three women.

As at the time of the visit to the area, the Investigative Police Officer and some policemen from Azikoro Police station, family members and sympathizers had made arrangements to remove the corpse of the deceased and deposit it at the mortuary after preliminary investigations.

Contacted, the Spokesman for the Bayelsa Police Command, Mr. Asinim Butswat said he had been informed of the incident but awaiting details from the Divisional Police Officer, Azikoro.