Gift David Okpara, the prime suspect in the murder of the Divisional Police Officer of Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State, Bako Angbashin, has spoken from his hiding.
The notorious cultist also known as General 2-Baba in a voice note aired on a popular radio station (92.3, Nigeria Info, Port Harcourt) on Monday morning denied any involvement in the crime.
The wanted leader of the Iceland cult also said he spoke with the late DPO hours before his death, even as he disclosed why his gang picked up arms after they were granted amnesty by the former administration.
He said, “I want to tell the Rivers State Government that I am not involved in anything concerning the death of the DPO. I didn’t want to say anything all this while. But I decided to speak out because of the way people were talking about it.
“I was surprised and I want to tell people that I was not after the DPO and I’m not involved in his death. It is just that the incident happened on my community road. And the day it (killing) occurred, I spoke with him. I and the DPO discussed this.
“I was not even there when he was killed that day and I was shocked when I heard about the incident.”
He said he returned to crime after his group submitted their weapons following the amnesty granted them, but that a rival gang did not submit and its members were killing his own members, including his younger brother; pointing out that the government didn’t take any action against them.
“We submitted all the arms and ammunition we had, but our opposition refused to submit. And I saw that the government didn’t do anything about it. So, my gang started regretting our decision to submit our arms.
“So, since we no longer had weapons, our rivals now used the advantage to trail us and kill members of my gang. They killed my younger brother of the same parents and burnt our house. That was my annoyance and that was why I went back to gunplay (crime),” he said.
The suspect who now claims to be a freedom fighter for the youths of Ekpeye (communities in his region) also denied involvement in kidnapping, illegal bunkering, and related acts of criminality, noting that he was into a dredging business.
According to Okpara, “I didn’t pick up arms again for the purpose of intimidating people and causing problems. Everybody knows I was not into kidnapping, illegal bunkering, or any criminal activity.
“I have just been concentrating on my business. And everybody knows that the only business I was doing was dredging. That is what I do,” adding that he was self-sponsored and not bankrolled by a traditional ruler as claimed.
General 2-Baba was declared wanted by the Rivers State Police Command following the gruesome murder of SP Angbashin on September 8, 2023, in Odiemude community in Ahoada East LGA of the state.
No fewer than 50 persons, including a monarch and former LG Chairman, are standing trial over the death of the gallant police officer.
The state police command has on several occasions raided criminal hideouts in the Ahoada area and killed some suspects linked to the death of the DPO, but the prime target, 2-Baba, has remained elusive.
Also, attempts by operatives to recover the decapitated body of the late Angbashin have been unsuccessful.
