Gunmen Kill Father of Four and Abduct Businessman in Rivers Community

Gunmen have killed Okere Samuel, a father of four, and kidnapped a businessman named Sunny Onuenze at an estate in the Army Range area of Igbo-Etche, located in the Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Reports indicate that the kidnapped individual is involved in the scrap metal trade in the building material market at Mile 3, Port Harcourt, while Samuel, a generator mechanic from the Ofeh community in Omuma Local Government Area, was returning home from work.

According to the widow, Mrs. Peace Samuel, her husband had just returned from work on Saturday, October 26, when he went out to pump water from the machine.

In a statement made on Monday, October 28, she recounted that around 7 PM, after finishing with the water pump, her husband turned off the generator and informed her he was going for a walk.

He then asked one of the children to prepare water for him in the bathroom for a shower, mentioning that he wouldn’t be gone long.

“So, not up to five minutes, I heard a gunshot. I asked, ‘What happened’? Not even on that our street, the next street. I heard another gunshot. I hurriedly carried my children inside the house and told them maybe their father was hiding wherever he was because of the gunshots and that he would come back,” she narrated.

“I started calling his line. At that initial time, the line was ringing but nobody answered. His phone rang more than six times. My thought was that he didn’t want to pick since he might be hiding so that nobody would hear him.”

“So later, I heard they kidnapped one of our neighbours. Everybody started coming out, all the landlords. I came out again but I didn’t see my husband.

“So, I started telling them I had not seen my husband. Being landlords, everybody said he would come back. So, the woman who they kidnapped her husband was crying.

“I was waiting for him with the kids till past 12 am. One landlord now called me that I should enter inside and that my husband would come back in the morning. Not up to one hour after I went inside, I heard our neighbours’ dogs barking seriously.

“So, I thought he was coming back. Second, I said who knew whether this man was still alive? Or whether they wanted to bring his corpse to his house and run away. I peeped through the window to check if I could see my husband but I did not. So, I went back to the room.

“At about past 5 am, I called my sister who is staying with me to wake up, that I was not comfortable that my husband had not come back, let us go and look for your daddy.

“So we started looking for him near our house, looked around but we did not see him. There is this plot of land close to us, we entered there. It was inside the farm that we saw his corpse. That is how we saw the corpse.”

She mentioned that the police from the Igwuruta Division arrived at the scene.

The incident was subsequently reported to the Umuebule Police Division in Igbo-Etche, and the deceased’s body was removed and taken to an undisclosed morgue.

In the meantime, it has been reported that the kidnappers of the businessman have made contact with the family, although it remains unclear whether a ransom has been requested.