Vehicular movement was disrupted, yesterday, in parts of Benin City following a protest by students of the University of Benin over alleged shooting to death of late Momodu Ibrahim, a 22-year-old 500 level student of the Faculty of Laboratory Science.
The students dressed in black attire marched through some major streets, calling for the arrest and prosecution of the Divisional Police Officer, in charge of Ogida Police Station, Mrs. Carol Afegbai, over her alleged complicity in the murder of Momodu.
Late Momodu who was the only male child of his parents was allegedly shot a stone throw from his family house at 1, Igbobaewaye Street, off Siluko road by Textile Mill junction.
Addressing newsmen later, an elder sister of the deceased, Ebohon Rebecca Egbe, while calling for justice to be done in the case, gave an account of how the life of his brother was cut short by the bullet allegedly fired by the DPO.
She said: “I was in my office in Port Harcourt when I received a call from a cousin of mine in Benin who is a policeman, saying that he wants to tell me that we lost Ibrahim my younger brother.
“I called my mother and she said they had been looking for him in for two days. Normally it is after 48 hours that you report such thing to the Police.”
She said she later went to the Police only to be told that he was allegedly killed by Carol Afegbua, the DPO of Ogida Police Station and was buried the next day without the family knowing.
She added that his brother’s cell-phone which was with the Police rang all through as “we were trying to locate his whereabouts until the Police finally picked the call and asked my mother to come to the police station.
“When the DPO was confronted over why her men shot my brother, she explained that they did not know his identity because her men asked him to stop and he refused. The DPO alleged that he was carrying a gun and wanted to shoot her men on patrol before they shot at him in self defence.”
The family, according to the sister of the slain student, was informed that the body of late Momodu had been buried at a public cemetery in Egor Local Government Area of the state.
When called for his reaction on the issue, the Edo State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Moses Eguavoen, said the Police Commissioner was about addressing the students at press time, saying he would then speak with journalists.
Source: Vanguard
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