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| The Murdered Denen Igbana |
Gunmen at the early hours of Friday, stormed the home of Mr.
Denen Igbana, the Senior Special Assistant, SSA, to Benue State Governor on
Security, and shot him dead in the presence of his family.
This was just as an Army Corporal attached to the Benue State
Joint Security Patrol team code named ‘Operation Zenda’, allegedly shot a year
two female student of Primary Education Studies at the College of Education in
Oju local government area of the state.
Saturday Vanguard
learned that Igbana, a retired Police officer, was killed by a gang who waylaid
him in front of his house along Naka road, in the outskirts of Makurdi town.
Narrating the incident to Governor Samuel Ortom who paid a sympathy visit to
the family of the deceased, an eyewitness and Tax Collector in the area, Thomas
Ayakpam said the assailants struck at about 1:32am
He explained that the SSA had come home only to run into the
assailants who were armed with sophisticated weapons. “They opened fire on his
vehicle (a Toyota Hilux) perforating the car on all sides. “ Igbana ran out of
the car, shouting and heading towards my own house but they shot him on his
leg. He fell.
At that point one of the gunmen came closer to him and he
started shouting, ‘Gana so you can kill me, you want to kill me, what did I do
to you?”. He was then shot severally and the people fled.
” In his response, Governor Ortom who could not hold back
tears said the deceased was one of his trusted aides who played a vital role in
ensuring the success of the administration’s amnesty programme. The Governor
who charged security operatives to apprehend the masterminds of the killing
said, “they have killed part of me but I’m still alive and I will ensure that
anyone responsible for this dastardly killing would be made to face justice.
” Meantime, Saturday Vanguard gathered from an eyewitness
that the female student of College of Education in Oju was shot while sitting
in front of her residence at Lawani hostels, situated outside the school
campus.
According to the source, “the problem started when one
student of the institution was alleged to have a long standing problem with a
female student and supposed girl friend of a soldier. “For that reason, the
soldier, Thursday afternoon stormed the institution to whisk Anthony to the
‘Operation Zenda’ base in Oju, but fellow students resisted the move.
He was asked to get an approval from the institution’s
management before taking the student away. “At that point the angry soldier
went away, promising to come back. That evening the soldier went back to the
institution with some of his colleagues to abduct the said Anthony but were
resisted by students in the institution who also aided Anthony to escape.
“Vexed by the action of the students the soldier opened fire
with his riffle and the innocent girl who was sitting by the door of her room
got hit at the side of her chest. “She was rushed to Adoga hospital in Oju
where she was given two pints of blood because she had lost so much blood and
thereafter rushed to the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, BSUTH, for
further treatment because the bullet could not be extracted and her condition
was deteriorating.
“As I speak with you we cannot ascertain the condition of the
student but the Army Corporal has been arrested by the Police in Oju and
transferred to the Command Headquarters in Makurdi.” Meanwhile, attempts to
reach the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Assistant Superintendent, ASP,
Moses Yamu failed but a top Police source who craved anonymity confirmed that
the matter was being investigated while the Army Corporal was being interrogated.
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