Imo Residents Call For DPO’s Removal Over Vigilantes, Herdsmen Kidnapping Clash

Residents of Obibiezena and Ihiagwa in Owerri West LGA of Imo State has called for the immediate removal of the Divisional Police Officer of Agballa Division of the Nigeria Police Force (names withheld), over what they tagged as ” protecting criminals while punishing defenders”.

The residents, who in their numbers protested on the street after some local( vigilantes were arrested and detained by the police for confronting some suspected Fulani herdsmen allegedly linked to a series of kidnappings along the troubled axis, decrying The distrust of the police.

The confrontation, which community members describe as an attempt to protect their neighborhoods, has now escalated into a major standoff between locals and law enforcement.

“We cannot understand why this trying to defend us are the ones being arrested while kidnappers allegedly operate freely,” a source said.

The situation has further deepened distrust between the police and residents, with vigilante groups long seen as informal community security forces, now at the center of a controversial crackdown.