Council chairman berates youth over killing of final-year varsity student

Etim Ekpimah

The Chairman of Southern Ijaw Local Government Council, Honourable Target Isaiah Segibo has strongly condemned the gruesome killing of a final-year Political Science student at the Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Amassoma, Mr Francis Palaowei by some youths of that community.

In a statement issued in Yenagoa on Friday by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Ayebaitari Easterday, the chairman regretted that Francis Palaowei’s life was cut short at a time when members of his family were preparing to reap the benefits of their labour from him.

He called on the security agencies in the area and urged them to arrest those who perpetrated the dastardly act quickly to serve as a deterrent to others.

Segibo said: “On assumption of office, I had in my maiden address to people in the area made it explicit that the Southern Ijaw Local Government Council, under my watch, will have zero tolerance for crime and criminality.

“The gruesome killing of Mr Francis Palaowei, therefore, is not only coming as a surprise but as an affront to the government.

“I, therefore, wish to condemn the action in its totality, and wish to call on security agencies in the area to fish out perpetrators of the dastardly act and bring them to book soonest.”

Segibo, however, appealed to members of the Palaowei family, the Niger Delta University, Amassoma community and the public to maintain peace, stating that he is doing everything possible to collaborate with security agencies to bring the culprits to book.