David Gift Okpala Okpolowu, popularly known as 2Baba, the wanted alleged cultist and murderer of Ahoada Division DPO, Bako Angbashim, has spoken from hiding and denied involvement in the DPO’s murder.
2Baba in a voice note he made and sent to media in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday, said the news of the murder of the DPO came to him as a shock, denying any involvement in the tragic incident.
Recall that cultists, who were instilling fear in the Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State, were responsible for the operation that resulted in the death of Angbashim. They also took control of his decapitated remains.
In response to the situation, Governor Siminalayi Fubara placed a 100 million bounty on the suspect after police declared him wanted for the killing of their personnel.
However, in the voice note, 2Baba mentioned that he had spoken to Angbashim just a few hours before the murder, emphasizing that the news of the killing came as a shock to him.
He said: “I want to tell the whole world that my hand is not in the murder of the DPO. All this while, I never wanted to talk about this, but people were very concerned, so, I said let me tell my people the truth.
“I am not involved in the murder. It is just that the thing happened in my community road. The day it happened, I was not there. I was shocked when I heard what happened.”
Confirming his acceptance of the state government’s amnesty for cultists, 2Baba explained that he retrieved his firearm when rival cult members began killing his associates without any intervention.
He said: “We had taken all our rifles and given them to the government, but the opposition refused to submit theirs. So, those people started attacking us with their guns. We regretted that we submitted our guns to the government.
“Those opposition cultists started killing our people. They killed my younger brother. They burnt down our house. This was the annoyance that made me go back for gunplay.”
2Baba emphasized his commitment as a freedom fighter, disclaiming any engagement in kidnapping, illegal bunkering, or other criminal activities.
He said that his support did not come from traditional rulers but was self-sponsored.
“The gunplay I went back to, I did not go back so I will use it to intimidate people or disturb people. Everybody knows that I don’t kidnap, and I don’t involved in bunkering. I give attention to my business. Everybody here knows my business. I am into sand dredging,” the suspect added.
Kanyi Daily recalls that Siminalayi Fubara and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, had a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.