When she was leaving the house, her father, General Frances Oneya, gave her a cheque of about N200,000 to cash for him.”
Gen. Oneya, a former military administrator of Kano State, was getting ready to attend the funeral of his late friend and comrade, Brig-Gen Patrick Aziza in Adagbarassa, an Urhobo town in Okpe Local Government Area, which is barely 20 minutes’ drive from the Effurun GRA.
NDR investigations revealed that the robbers, who were probably lurking around the bank premises thought that the big (Ghana-must-go) bag she pulled into the car contained a huge amount of money, instead of the cloths she was carrying.
An eyewitness said the criminals trailed her to a bad section of the road and opened fire on her. In her desperate bid to escape she ran into a ditch and hit a fence as the robbers rained bullet on her. She died on the spot
Meanwhile, a source close to the family said Gen. Oneya was informed about the shooting at about 11am. He was with his wife and other dignitaries, which including Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan and retired military chiefs, at Adagbarassa, when the sad news came.
“He was merely informed that robbers shot his daughter, but he didn’t know that she was dead,” a source added.
The General reportedly remained calm and partook in all the activities at the ceremony until after he paid his last respect to his late colleague and friend, who was laid to rest at about 2:30pm.
“Immediately after the interment, he apologised to the governor that he had to break protocol and leave before him (Governor) because his daughter was shot by robbers. The governor was amazed that he was able to stay back over three hours and went through the proceedings.
“Governor Uduaghan asked Dr Chris Oghenechovwen, Commissioner for Water Resources, to accompany Gen Oneya to his house and to do everything possible to save the woman because they did not know that she was dead.”
It was gathered that when Oneya left, his wife who stayed back at the ceremony started calling their daughter. “She wanted to tell Frances to cook for her father, because he had not eaten all day. When Frances’ calls went on answered, she decided to rush home herself to make the food.”
When Mrs Oneya got home, she met a crowd of people milling around the house built on a road named after her husband. She immediately knew all was not well.
Among the visitors in the house was Reverend Father Toby, the Parish Priest of St Jude Catholic Church, which shares a common fence with the Oneyas’ compound. At that point, the woman became nervous because the priest had never visited before.
“She was worried. Then when she got inside, she saw people around her husband. But because her mother was sick, she initially that it was her mother that had died. When her husband told her, ‘we lost one of our daughters’, it became clear to her and without asking she said: ‘It is Frances, isn’t it?”
Expectedly the incident has thrown the family into mourning with her elder brother, Tony lamenting the loss of a dear sister.
He said she was “the one that called me up when food was ready, the Landlord that gave me a room when I came back home to Nigeria. The sibling that ensured that colour matched the walls of my new home. The Liaison Officer, the Wedding Planner and the sibling who never knew how much I loved her.”
Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan on Sunday afternoon led top government functionaries to the Oneya’s family to commiserate with them on another painful death of a promising young Deltan in the state.
As the painful reality of the death of the wonderful woman sets in for her family and friends, anger is growing over the worsening security situation in Delta and other states of the federation.
Mr Oghenejabor Ikimi, Executive Director Centre for the Vulnerable and Underprivileged, said: “The incident and others too numerous to mention simply underscores the quantum insecurity nationwide and the urgent need for the Police to brace up to tackle the spate of lawlessness in our society.”
Ikimi, a lawyer, urged the Delta Police Commissioner, Mr. Alkali Usman Baba to ensure that the hoodlums are apprehended and brought to book so as to serve as a deterrent to others, “we also call on the CP to also ensure that adequate security is provided throughout the state particularly in this ember months.”
In her reaction, the Police Public Relations Office in Delta Command, DSP Celestina Kalu, vowed that the days of the hoodlums were numbered. She said several crimes in the area, including a siege to the Effurun-Ughelli axis of the East/West highway was traced to the gang.
“Now that they have taken life we will hunt them and bring them to justice. The police is not resting we have brought other gangs to justice, this group will not go unpunished,” she vowed in a telephone chat with our reporter.
While the police spokesperson’s tough talk is assuring, residents of the area are wary of another bloody ember period as the spectre of the Ember months of 2011 loomed large.
While the city was still mourning the death of the cheerful Ms Oneya, hoodlums again struck on the Effurun end of the busy Old Airport by the local branch of a new generation bank in the area on Saturday afternoon. Three youths armed with cut-to-size single and double barrel rifles attacked shop owners in the area and carted away huge sums of money, bulk mobile recharge cards and other valuables.
The activities of gangs of criminals operating on Jakpa Road in Effurun have forced residents to impose dusk-to-curfew on themselves. Unfortunately, the activities of the hooligans are not restricted by time or place.
“It is like the wild west; we are constantly on the lookout. When you see people running, you too just have to join them and run; later you can ask to know what the matter was,” a business centre owner in the area told our reporter.
Israel Ophori, a photojournalist escaped death by the whiskers two weeks ago when he was attacked by knife-wielding criminals at Jakpa Junction. He was serially stabbed and dispossessed of cash and other valuable.
At about mid-September the popular Airport Road and adjoining Sokoh Estate road were shut down when a band of robbers trailed a victim who had gone to withdraw huge sum of money from a new generation bank around the vicinity.
The victim was chased into a mechanic workshop under a shower of hot bullets. He was forced to abandon the Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) along with a bag-load of cash running into several millions of naira. After retrieving the money, the robbers continued to fire into the air until they left the scene.
On October 9, a man went to a new generation bank located at the Total Filling Station area of Okumagba Avenue in Warri. He left the bank with N2.1million on his way to the Blue Waters area of Ekpan; he was robbed at gunpoint and the money carted away at the NNPC Housing Complex Road.
A statement by the state command of the Police said the victim, identified as Ephraim Iyamukre, trailed the 4-man gang through the Airport Road to Ogunu Road, where in their desperate bid to getaway, they were involved in a multiple crash.
The crash attracted policemen from the nearby Quick Response (QRS). Consequently, the armed robbers jumped out of their vehicle and ran to different directions. Three successfully escaped after a gunfight with the police team led by ASP Okey Nweke, but the fourth was not so lucky. He was shot dead and the money, arms and ammunition were retrieved. Three persons who suffered various wounds were taken to the General Hospital, Warri.
Earlier on that day, hundreds of passengers were left stranded on the busy Effurun-Ughelli axis of the East-West highway, following hour-long siege by a 10-man. The hoodlums indiscriminately shot and molested passengers, before they left the scene. At about the same time, a middle-aged man was shot and wounded along Sokoh Estate road.
DSP Kalu, who confirmed the incident on Ughelli Road, hinted that the preliminary investigation showed that the same gang was behind the coldblooded murder of Ms Oneya. She said they usually moved around in large number.
On Saturday, October 11, dozens of motorists and commuters going to Ekpan and other parts of Uvwie were rounded up by armed men around the NNPC Housing Complex Road. The victims were dispossessed of huge sums of money and other valuables.
The robbery spree on the road continued on Sunday when scores of worshippers returning home from church were waylaid around the bridge on the road.
A government official, who pleaded not to be named, said the administration would leave no stone unturned to ensure the security of lives and property.
The Uduaghan administration has invested so much in security, acquiring operational vehicles and security gadgets for the police.
