In Bakana, the life of a Kalabari youth hangs in the balance. The man, a victim of a machete attack is struggling to survive.
His name is Soala Martyns Yellowe.
We cannot confirm what led to the attack, but local sources say a disagreement between Martyns Yellowe and an Akwa Ibomite who resides in the community may have led to the brutal incident.
It is not known if the victim would make it alive or if he would die as a result, but his situation after he received deadly machete blows was reportedly precarious.
Confined to a hospital bed where he is being treated, he is too weak to give an account of what transpired.
According to information, the victim’s head now has a deep cuts where the machete found its mark; his palms raised up in defence during the attack, bear evidence of the cuts inflicted upon him before he was rescued; while pain and extreme shock have become a daily companion as his body responds to the injuries that he sustained, according to knowledgeable sources.
His assailant has since been reportedly picked up by soldiers in the vicinity who are handling preliminary investigations.
We however cannot confirm if the army which was purportedly in custody of the attacker as at the time of this report has handed him over to the police.
A few nautical miles away, precisely in Bonny, another victim of another vicious attack was not so lucky.
He is dead.
The deceased whose name was given as Victor was killed by one Amaka Faith Mark who stabbed him repeatedly in the chest area with an object believed to be a knife until he bled to death.
Had Victor known, he would rather have stayed hungry, or stopped short of any argument with Amaka when a heap of refuse was purposefully placed in front of his tailoring shop to provoke the disagreement.
Now, the natural quest to satisfy an appetite with a morsel of food has turned costly.
He would never be seen again.
The man reportedly had a meal valued at N200 at a restaurant owned by the lady’s mum.
His inability to pay the sum of N200 which he promised to redeem appears to be the reason for the deadly attack which claimed his life.
Eyewitnesses say, in her anger, she threatened to kill him but he dismissed her threats casually, saying she cannot do anything. All efforts to calm her down proved abortive.
An eyewitness said, “She left as if the quarrel was over but unknowing to Victor, she had gone into her mother’s restaurant and picked a knife.
“As Victor was going back to his shop thinking everything was over, she grabbed him by the neck and stabbed him in the chest. He slumped but instead of leaving him, she straddled him and continued stabbing him thus carving a gaping hole in his chest”, an eyewitness revealed.
The police the area has confirmed her arrest and subsequent detention.
We have learnt that angry persons were prevented from razing the restaurant which was soaked with substance suspected to be gasoline.
Victor, a 27 year old native of Abak in Ika Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State left behind three children.
In the communities, the suburbs where a large number of the people reside, incidents like this occur, but they are largely unreported.
Some of them murders are politically motivated, others are not.
Perhaps, the latest incidents in Bakana and Bonny depict the level of rage that seemingly exists in an ever changing world in which more persons are increasingly taking the law into their own hands.
Under Nigerian law, nobody has the right to snuff off the life of another.
Somehow, the aculturization process encouraged by feature films, growing recourse to self help, the debilitating circumstances that current economic and social realities are throwing up, point to a future of great uncertainty.
Current events in Nigeria suggest that human life no longer matters in these time.
In Bakana close relatives are praying that Martyns Yellowe survives. His survival may throw light on the nature of disagreement which resulted in the deadly assault.
A family member told one of our correspondents that they were waiting patiently to hear from their injured son.
It is difficult to say how or when violence became the order of the day in Rivers society, but many trace the birth of violent reactions to the Odili era.
Signs are that it may be long in abating, given growing rivalries, recourse to self help, and scramble for the few opportunities that are available in a State where people once went about their normal businesses without the fear of molestation.