From TONY OSAUZO, Benin
Horror was unleashed on Edo State yesterday when suspected cultists shot at close range, a female staff of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH).The incident occurred in the presence of her husband. The victim, who was identified as Mrs. Elisabeth Osayande, was allegedly shot at their residence at Akpata Street, Egor Local Government Area.
According to sources, the gunmen, who allegedly rode on a motorcycle, had reportedly pointed at the woman, saying “that is the person, shoot her,” before she was shot on the chest. She died instantly. Her son, whose name could not be ascertained, was said to have had an altercation with a boy who parked his motorcycle in front of their residence before the unknown gunmen shot the deceased.
The late woman’s husband, simply identified as Mr. Osayande, said that he sent his son to buy him some planks and the son noticed that a stranger parked his motorcycle at the entrance to their residence. “My son only asked him to give way, but the stranger told him to shut up. He threatened to deal with my son and he came back in a few minutes and shot my wife,” Mr. Osayande said, noting that the body had been deposited at the mortuary, adding that the matter was reported at the Ogida Police Station.
The Edo State Police Command’s spokesman, DSP Anthony Airhuoyo, said the police were yet to receive detailed information on the incident. Meanwhile, following the killings of some members of the Deeper Life Bible Church in Okene, Kogi State last week by gunmen, the Edo State Police Command has beefed up security in boundary towns between Edo and Kogi to forestall invasion of the state by armed militia.
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Olayinka Balogun, who disclosed this in Benin yesterday, said policemen had been deployed in Muslim communities in Edo North to ensure a hitch-free Sallah this weekend. “We have deployed policemen in the buffer zones between Edo and Kogi States to ensure that the gunmen, who were responsible for the killings in Okene do not infiltrate into Edo State. We have beefed up security in towns like Ibillo, Igarra, Okpella, among others. “We are also taking some security measures to ensure that Muslims in Edo have a hitch-free Sallah celebration,” he said.
The commissioner, who had earlier addressed members of the Police Community Relations Committee, sued for aggressive recruitment of volunteers with unblemished record into the committee just as he praised the PCRC at Ibillo for assisting the police in the arrest of two gunmen who were said to be part of those who attacked the Deeper Life Church. In his speech, the Chief Imam of Benin, Mallam Abdul-Fatai Enabulele, said the term, Boko Haram, was anti-thetical to Islam which he said was a religion of peace. “The problem in Northern Nigeria is the problem of long-term manipulations and double standard. Boko Haram has never fought for Islam, beginning from the days of the Prophet in Medina and Mecca.”
“The Prophet preached Islam with diplomacy…There is nothing like Western knowledge. So, knowledge is knowledge, which is why Islam told us that knowledge is continuous. Let me assure everybody that in Edo State, we will never collaborate with, support or tolerate Boko Haram or kill any Christian,” he said.
Culled from The Sun
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