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 us 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 us that he was in a meeting.
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