The New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) has voiced worry over the assassination of one of its members, Sunday Oputu, in Bayelsa State, as well as the recent wave of killings around the country.
In a statement, the chairman of the NNPP, Prof. Rufai Alkali, stated that the assassination bore the hallmarks of a politically motivated act, emphasizing that it has the potential to erode public trust in the Nigerian state’s ability to protect the lives and property of its citizens across the country.
According to the statement, the Bayelsa State Chairman of the NNPP, Dr. Joel Tubonimi, informed the party’s national secretariat of the event and claimed that the matter had been reported to the police.
According to the statement, Oputu was a former chairman of the Conference of the Nigeria Political Parties and Inter-Party Advisory Council in Bayelsa State before joining the NNPP.
It explained that the deceased, killed in his residence in Yenagoa, the state capital, was a factional State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress before joining it.
The party, therefore, demanded justice for both the deceased and the family he left behind and condemned the rising spate of insecurity across Nigeria.
The statement said, “We received with shock news of the death of one of our active members in Bayelsa state, the late Sunday Oputu. Sadly, his assassination by yet to be identified gunmen was not an isolated case.”
The party observed that Nigerians are losing their lives daily to bandits, terrorists, and other extra-judicial means to such an extent that people are beginning to wonder if the country has a government.
The party appealed to its members, especially in Bayelsa, to remain calm and not take the laws into their own hands, and demand immediate action from security agencies.
The party said it wants the assassination investigated, and the culprits brought to justice.
It prayed God to grant those left to mourn their departed colleague the fortitude to bear the loss and prayed for the repose of his soul.