A gallant police fighter, SP Bako Angbasim, was captured and butchered in a forest in Ahoada area of Rivers State on September 8, 2023. The police and the state government led in the show of anger and vowed to get the corpse and the killers.
Up to now, the kingpin and his henchmen are yet to be caught, though some men have been killed and arrested.
Rather, what is being harvested by members of the public seem to be twists and turns. First, the police and the state government said Bako was ambushed and killed and that his team members escaped.
Even as members of the public were doubtful that the strongest man in a team was captured and his boys were strong enough to escape. They called for interrogation of Bako’s men.
Read also: Rivers place N100 million bounty on killers of S.P Bako
Before long, the CP changed statement, saying Bako went to inspect arms to be surrendered by the people that killed him. The presence of two theories of the killing does not help matters neither does it help the police.
The earlier statement said Bako and team ran out of ammunition and that reinforcement came late. Many wonder how the police did not put standby reinforcement ahead of the Bako adventure into the forest.
While that was happening, video clip of interrogation of one of the suspected ringleaders who was bragging on a video release surfaced. The police said the man was about to be lynched by the villagers before they moved in.
Now, the video is said to be illegally released by the team interrogating the man. Now, a new DPO has been deployed to Ahoada to replace the one who replaced Bako.
The twist is, why would any sane policeman release video of interrogation without approval of the CP? Was it not the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) that ought to release anything to the public?
By the way, how did the accused ringleader disappear into thin air? Could this explain the suspicion that powerful people were behind the exploits and bravado of Gift Opara Okpolowu (2Baba).
Is it true that capturing him would implicate many top persons? So, who is hiding him? If he has escaped the region, who arranged it?
Starting from poor strike by Bako that failed, to the several other twists, the investigation seems unsatisfactory, or the police may be encountering many obstacles they do not want to disclose.
In a society where different police officers owe allegiance to different non-police bosses, this kind of crime could expose what is better left unknown.
Those who think the disappearance of the suspects, the corpse, and the weapon may be a child’s play should consider that the backers of the killers know damn too well that nobody can succeed with a murder case, no matter how sensational it is, where the body is not found (it thus is case of missing person), weapon is not found, let alone if suspect is not brought to court. Could this be what the backers are working hard on?
