•Edo CP orders removal, interrogation of DPO; victims’ names released
THE Edo State Commissioner of Police (CP), Abutu Yaro, yesterday ordered immediate withdrawal and interrogation of the officer in charge of Auchi Police Division, Ayodele Suleiman.
The directive followed Friday’s deadly attack on the convoy of the General Overseer of Auchi-based Omega Fire Ministries (OFM), Apostle Johnson Suleman, in which seven people, including three police officers, were shot dead.
The outgoing CP, now an Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), also revealed the names of the seven people who were shot dead during the attack.
The deceased persons, he said, include three police Inspectors (Igbaugba Paragon, Afensumu Philip and Akpolor Monday) and three civilians, namely Ahmed Promise, Momoh Ilegogie and Janet (surname unknown), while Vera (surname also unknown) was whisked away by the assailants.
The DPO, Yaro said, would be debriefed at state’s police headquarters in the Government Reservation Area (GRA), Benin.
He maintained that interrogating Auchi’s DPO was part of the measures aimed at unraveling the circumstances that led to the death of one of a member of the gang that attacked the convoy of the renowned cleric.
Apostle had alleged in a post on his verified Twitter handle on Saturday morning that policemen’s killing of an arrested member of the gang that attacked his convoy on Friday evening was a cover-up.
In the said post, the cleric insisted that the suspected criminal was actually arrested and handed over to the police alive but was gunned down by the policemen, adding that there was no basis for it.
He said: “The dead suspect was handed over alive to the police. I wonder who is trying to cover up the attack by killing the suspect.
“I also disagree with the police that the attackers were kidnappers. They were hired assassins engaged to terminate my life.
“Lies, they weren’t kidnappers. He was caught and handed over, and the police killed him immediately. Why? Why killing him on the spot? Who is trying to cover up traces?”
Yaro, however, urged members of the public to remain calm and patient, saying that no stone would be left unturned in the effort to unearth the circumstances surrounding the attack.
He described the attack on Suleman’s convoy on Warreke-Auchi Road in Edo North Senatorial District at about 5:45 pm on Friday as very sad.
He said: “On receipt of the information on the attack on the convoy on Friday, the DPO, Auchi immediately mobilised policemen, gave the assailants a hot chase and engaged them.
“One of the assailants was neutralised (killed) in the process, and one Toyota Avensis car, with registration number Lagos: KRD 92 HU was also recovered.
“The bodies of the deceased have since been deposited at the morgue while intense bush combing and intelligence gathering are still ongoing for possible arrest of the assailants.
“I wish to order the DC CID, DCP Samuel Olawore; explosive and ordinance investigators and forensic experts to the scene, while tactical teams, led by the AC OPs, ACP James Chu, are advancing to the general area to conduct further coordinate pursuit of the assailants.
“I commiserate with the bereaved families and pray to God to console them. Authorities of the Nigeria Police Force share from their grief, while assuring that the perpetrators of the heinous crime must be brought to book to face the consequences of their actions.”
The outgoing CP, while pleading for calm, promised that the command would deploy all its human and material resources to ensure that the assailants were brought to book.
Yaro urged Edo residents to swiftly report any strange movement or unusual gathering within their environment to the police and sister security agencies, reiterating that security should be everybody’s business.