The people of Afuda, Ebhoiyi Uromi, in Esan North East Local
Government Area of Edo State were thrown into mourning on Sunday,
August 5 after unknown gunmen, suspected to be assassins, killed the
chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in the council, Daniel
Ehinon Akhidi.
The deceased, who was also the Secretary of Esan North East LGA
Public Primary School Worker/Farmers Multi-Purpose Corporative Society
Limited, Uromi, was a calm and peaceful community leader and that was
why his sudden death came as a rude shock to not only his family
members but also to the entire NUT family and Uromi as a whole. Sunday
Vanguard was informed that the incident occurred at about 8p.m. on the
fateful day when some unknown gunmen followed the 51-year-old teacher to
his residence.
It was said that when the victim got to his residence, the suspects
accosted him at his gate, pushed him out of his car and started beating
him. Daniel’s plea to the suspected assassins to save his life
attracted the attention of his wife, Cordelia, and children who rushed
out know what was happening. But when the came out, the suspects, about
five in number, threatened to shoot and ordered the family members to
go back. Fearing that they might be shot, they obeyed the gunmen.
The next thing they heard were gunshots and a loud cry from the
victim. After shooting him, they went away with his sports utility
vehicle (SUV). He was rushed to the Otibokhai Specialist Hospital Irrua,
where he gave up the ghost before he could receive any treatment.
*Daniel Akhidi… Puzzle over assassination
While friends and family members were wondering what could have led
to his untimely death, some thing mysterious happened the next day,
Monday, August 6. An alert came into the deceased’s phone which was
with the younger brother, Kenneth.
Some body withdrew N20,000 from the Unity Bank account of the
deceased. This was at a time the body of Daniel had been deposited at
the mortuary. The question now on the lips of family members and
friends is, who withdrew the money from the deceased’s savings account?
Sunday Vanguard spoke with the younger brother of the deceased,
Kenneth.
He narrated: “On that Sunday morning, we went to church together.
When the service was over, I came back home and met my brother at his
sitting room. He said we should go to a meeting together but I said I
won’t go but later I changed my mind. After the meeting, he asked me to
follow him to Ekpoma where he went to drop his daughter. I did not want
to go because I wanted to go and see a friend, but later I escorted him
and we came back to Uromi at about 6:30p.m”.
The brother continued: “He told me he would still go back to town as
he needed to do something. But I saw my friend about seven poles away
from our house and I joined him. My brother went back to town while I
went to another friend’s place. But I found out that my friend whom I
went to see was not at home, I called him and he said I should meet him
at one of our friends place who was ill. But I was reluctant to go
because I was not carrying my car; besides it was already too late.
“However, I had to go back home to pick my car since the person was
ill and we needed to go and visit him. After I took my car, I went to
meet my friend. While I was there, my phone rang and it was my brother’s
wife. She was shouting and crying; so I rushed back home.
I told my friends I needed to go home because the way my brother’s
wife called was very unusual. I tried to make calls and I was told that
my brother was shot. I saw a lot of people in our house and before I got
home they said they had rushed him to the hospital.
I headed to hospital but before I got there they said my brother was
dead. I was told the assailants followed him and dragged him out of his
car. “While my brother was shouting, the wife rushed out but the
assailants said they should go in or they will shoot. They took his SUV
and shot him. While they were rushing him to hospital, the children
picked his hand set, but I later collected it from them.
“The phone was with me. When the IPO came to the house, he wanted to
take statement. He asked if I knew the last call he made, so I brought
the phone and immediately an alert came in from Unity Bank. Twenty
thousand Naira was debited from his account on the 6th of August 2012 at
11:09a.m.
And we found out that the withdrawer was my brother. “So I told the
IPO, ‘look at the alert, my brother that is already dead at the mortuary
is withdrawing money. “So we rushed to the bank and met the Manager of
the bank.
They brought his profile and the Manager asked for the cashier who
did the transaction. We found out that the signature was forged because
the signature they signed was different from the one in the computer.
The cashier is from our community and we asked him how come he saw the
name he did not confirm because he knows our family. “People started
blaming him for not confirming the signature. So the IPO said he should
come and see the DPO. But the Manager said the cashier could not come
to the police until he balanced his account.
The next day, the cashier was arrested. The police assured us that
they will investigate the matter but up till now we don’t know what is
happening. We learnt they arrested one person at Ubiaja but we also
heard he has been released. The cashier they arrested was taken to the
State CID but up till now they have not told us what is happening.
“All we want to know is who killed my brother and why was he killed?
The police should look into the matter so that the people who killed my
brother will be brought to book. I am particularly worried because my
brother did not have problem with any body. We lived in the same house,
we were together through out that day, just about an hour that I left
him, that was when they killed him. We were always communicating so
there was nothing he willnot tell me.”
Also speaking to Sunday Vanguard on the issue, one of the leaders of
the NUT in the council, Mrs Ibadin, lamented that the police were yet
to come up with a clue on the killers and appealed that ‘this must not
be another murder that will be swept under the carpet”. He appealed to
the Edo State Commissioner of Police to find the killers because “our
chairman was a very peaceful man. We don’t know the wicked people who
have done this but we want them exposed”.
Meanwhile, the police concluded autopsy on the deceased on Thursday
and gave clearance for burial. Daniel was buried on Friday but the
family called for investigation. Efforts to get the Edo State Police
Public Relations Officer, Anthony Airhioworo, to comment on the murder
proved abortive as he informed Sunday Vanguard that he was in a meeting.
SOURCE: Vanguard Nigeria
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