By Trust Adabor
The last May not have been heard on the tragic killing of former Chairman of Etsako-East Local Government Council in Edo State, Prince Suleiman Afegbua as a survivor of the incident says the assailants knew who they were after.
Speaking from his hospital bed in Benin, Mallam Amedu Faruq said the gunmen struck at the bad spot near Ogbemudia Farm on the Benin Auchi Road, after blocking the vehicle at gunpoint and ordered all four occupants to get down from the vehicle, shooting the ex-chairman who sat beside the driver before marching the rest of them into the forest.
Mallam Faruq said the criminals were seven in number, promptly shot and killed Prince Suleiman Afegbua as he made to alight from the Prado SUV in which they were traveling for an engagement in Benin, dispelling false media reports that suggested that the former council boss had attempted to run away causing the felons to fire at him.
The survivor named other victims as Alhaji Musa Afegbua, father of the deceased ex council chairman and Usman Abdullah. He said the assailants had taken himself and two others far into the forest before the aged Alhaji Musa Afegbua escaped.
Speaking amidst sobs on account of the trauma he suffered following the unfortunate incident, Amedu said the gunmen had taken the victims far into the forest and had them tied to trees and left the scene.
He revealed that the assailants before abandoning them to their fate had in the course of their interactions said, "let us go away, after all, we have gotten our target"
"They did not ask us to call anybody to demand ransom. They just tied our hands and legs together and abandoned us in the place before a farmer who came our way freed us after two days in captivity", Mallam Faruq explained.
Asked if it was an assassination, the victim simply said, "what else would it be when they shot the former council boss and left the rest of us and went away without demanding any ransom".
The police had claimed in its report that the attack was an act of kidnapping, and blamed it on Fulani herders who had been found to illegally occupy the forests reserved for agricultural purposes.
Police spokesperson DSP Moses Nkonmbe however said the police was doing all they could to arrest the perpetrators of the heinous crime.
Post a Comment