Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu state has placed a N10 million bounty on the killers of two policemen in the state.

On May 7, the Enugu state police command said two policemen and three members of the neighbourhood watch were killed during a crisis that erupted in Iggah community, Uzo-Uwani LGA of the state.

While briefing journalists after a security council meeting at the government house on Saturday, Mbah said the state would go after the culprits with every resource at its disposal.

On the possible culprits, Mbah said available information pointed to men of the Eastern Security Network (ESN).

He called on members of the public to be on the lookout for the criminals and the exhibits, and report same to security agencies.

“We just rounded off our security council meeting where we discussed, among other things, about the gruesome killing of our policemen – men of the Enugu state police command — by criminals suspected to be members of the ESN,” Mbah said.

“Let me say this. This bestial and cold-blooded action cannot be condoned in Enugu state. I have given my directives to the security agencies that there must be no hiding place for these criminals in Enugu state. We must use everything necessary to hunt down, arrest, and bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous crime.

“We have also placed a bounty of N10 million as a reward to anyone, who would have any useful information that will lead to the arrest of these criminals. So, I enjoin members of the public to, please, come forward, or call the police and other security agencies with any useful information that could lead to the arrest of these criminals.

“We do not have room to accommodate these people, these vagabonds, and these miscreants in our state.

“We are going to do everything necessary to ensure that the ultimate sacrifice made by our valiant policemen does not go in vain.”

Mbah said the government would provide the necessary support to the bereaved families.

“Let me just also add that those who murder our policemen or indeed any member of our security agencies may assume that they have triumphed in their evil acts. Let me inform them that we are going to come after them with everything we have,” the governor said.

“We are going to deploy all the necessary technology, all the necessary forces within our powers to track them, capture them and defeat them. Enugu State and indeed with the support of the security agencies, we are going to make life uncomfortable for those who do not want to live in a decent society.”

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared full control over Rivers State, asserting that Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the party now dominate the state’s political landscape.

The PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, on Saturday, claimed that all legislators who defected to the All Progressives Congress have forfeited their seats, citing constitutional provisions.

On Tuesday, the Rivers State Government dismissed a call on the state House of Assembly by the Caretaker Committee of the APC in the state to commence impeachment proceedings against Fubara.

Ologunagba emphasized that legal considerations now overwhelmingly favour the PDP, dismissing the APC’s claims as futile attempts to subvert Nigeria’s constitution.

He stated, “It is indeed pathetic for the APC to think that the facts and true import of Section 109 (1) (g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) to the effect that the former lawmakers have since lost their seats can be muddled and lost in litigation and lengthy press statements.

“Interestingly, in the failed bid to subvert the Constitution to give the former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly a lifeline, the APC ended up admitting the clarity of the provision of Section 109(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) in voiding their seats upon their defection.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Section 109 (1)(g) of the Constitution is clear in providing that “a member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if – being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before expiration of the period for which that House was elected:

“Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored.”

Ologunagba said that all House of Assembly members who joined the APC are now former members.

He urged both the APC and the legislators to abandon any hopes of their party assuming control of Rivers State.

“The former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, for reasons best known to them, wittingly vacated and summarily lost their seats as nothing in the proviso protects or allows them to retain their membership of the Rivers State House of Assembly after decamping from the political party upon which they were elected.

“These former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have only themselves to blame for Constitutionally vacating their seats; a course which cannot be reversed or remedied. They should admit their miscalculation and bear the inescapable consequences.

“This is especially so as the Supreme Court, in the case of Abegunde vs Ondo State House of Assembly and Others, has since clarified and affirmed the import of the proviso in Section 109(1)(g) in validating the automatic vacation of a seat by a member of a Legislative House who defected from the Party upon which he was elected into that House.

“For the umpteenth time, the PDP cautions the APC to steer clear of Rivers State; it should perish the thoughts of forcefully taking over the State and stop exasperating the public space by seeking to reverse the irreversible.

“The APC should come to terms that with the vacation of seats by the former lawmakers, the quorum of the Rivers State House of Assembly will be determined by the number of the remaining lawmakers as provided by law; until a bye-election is conducted to fill the vacancies now existing in the Rivers State House of Assembly as a result of the defection by the former members,” Ologunagba further stated.

Amidst the many troubles rocking the Rivers State political structure, the APC on Friday stated that the “egregious actions” of Fubara are indicators of his impeachment process talks.

The management of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo State, on Saturday, announced the arrest of two members of its vigilante group for allegedly raping a female student of the institution.

The management, in a statement by its Public Relations Officer, Olufemi Atoyebi, said the university had set up its own internal panel of inquiry to investigate the allegation.

Atoyebi said the suspects have been handed over to the police with a vow to ensure heavy penalty on anyone found culpable after a thorough investigation.

He, therefore, assured all stakeholders that the institution would not tolerate any act of misconduct capable of tarnishing its enviable image.