Mrs. Martina Okey Itagbor, who was murdered by youths in Old Netim, Akamkpa is a member of the Catholic Women Organization, CWO.
The mothers of the two boys who died in a ghastly car crash, for which Mrs. Martina is accused of killing via witchcraft, are also both members of the CWO.
Mrs. Martina Itagbor was burnt to death in front of the village Catholic church while a meeting of the CWO was ongoing in the church. They were inside the church watching while the youths burnt one of their members to ashes.
One of Mrs. Martina’s daughters, who is also a member of the CWO, was inside the church too while her mother was burning in the fire. She wasn’t allowed to come out to do anything to help the hapless mum.
Members of the CWO have visited the mothers of the two boys who died in the car crash to condole with them. But they have refused to visit the family of late Mrs. Martina Itagbor, to condole with them. They have also refused to condemn the action of the community youths. And her daughter who watched her mother burn to death has been facing threats from the youths since the incident happened.
By their actions, are members of the CWO in Old Netim, Akamkpa, accepting the verdict of the youths that one of their own was a witch and deserves to die gruesomely or are they afraid of their murderous children?
Meanwhile, we have obtained 14 names of the irate youths who participated in the murder of Mrs. Martina Okey Itagbor.
They include:
- Christopher Sunday Mbey(Leader)
- Festus Etim Umoh (Dep. Leader)
- Emem Etim Umoh
- Enearokot Omonga Peter
- Stephen aka Pompori
- 6. Obaji
- Destiny Ime Brown
- Joseph Omonga Orok
- Eyu Adogo
- Louis Bassey Peter
- Orok Okon Orok
- Mesembe Anembe
- Malachi Sylvanus
- Thelfa Okon Nyong
It will be recalled that, a few years ago, after the death of two Catholic priests, Reverend Father Daniel Omonga and a colleague, in a ghastly car accident, these same youths went berserk and killed four chiefs in the community and burnt houses and properties worth millions of Naira. The youths alleged that the four chiefs that were murdered were witches and wizards.
Because nothing happened to any of them, they have been emboldened to continue with this barbarism.
That’s why we are calling on the Nigeria Police to please move into that community immediately and do their work. No one should be given the impression that they have a free pass to take other people’s lives without retribution.
Citizen Agba Jalingo is the Publisher of CrossRiverWatch and a rights activist, a Cross Riverian, and writes from Lagos.
NB: Opinions expressed in this article are strictly attributable to the author, Agba Jalingo, and do not represent the opinion of CrossRiverWatch or any other organization the author works for/with.