The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, has directed the Commissioner of Police, Delta State, Ari Muhammed Ali, to investigate the attempt on the life of the Obi of Ogwashi-Uku, His Majesty Obi Ifechukwude Aninshi Okonjo II, by suspected cultists and thugs at Otulu Ogwashi-Uku.
Recall that on September 18, 2021, the convoy of Obi of Ogwashi-Uku, who’s the brother of Director-General of World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was attacked when he visited Otulu Ogwashi-Uku, a farm settlement area in his kingdom to meet the residents and offer prayers for the growth and development of the community.
HRM Okonjo, it will also be recalled, was accompanied on the visit by senior members of the Obi-in-Council, members of the press corps, officers from the office of the Area Commander Ogwashi-Uku, some soldiers from the Asaba Brigade Command, Ogwashi-Uku, vigilantes and about 50 members of the Ogwashi-Uku community.
It was on his way back home with his convoy of about 30 cars that some suspected cultists and thugs barricaded the road with logs and tyres to refuse the monarch access.
The melee that followed the obstruction allegedly led to the killing of one Cletus Opara, the burning of about five cars, an attack on the military officers and members of the Obi’s entourage and an alleged attempt on his life.
In a statement made available to journalists by the monarch’s Palace Secretary, Prince Ifeakanachukwu Emordi, on Sunday in Delta State, the Obi thanked the IGP for directing the Delta CP to investigate the incident.
Emordi confirmed in the statement that the directive was laudable because the attackers of the Obi were apparently well known to the Delta Police Command and the Police Headquarters in Abuja.
He affirmed that the assailants were the same people who attacked a newly-installed Chief Onyema Igbokei 2020 in an attempted murder so they could continue to sell community land illegally in the Edo Ogwashi-Uku and Otulu Ogwashi-Uku areas.