OLOGBO CRISIS: COURT REMANDS CHIEF ATSELEGHE, OTHERS IN POLICE CUSTODY

By Kadiri Christopher.

A High Court in Benin last week issued a remand order sought by the Edo State Police Command to keep  Chief Johnson Atseleghe, and 11 others over the alleged kidnap and murder of Mr. Sunny Etchie who was the youth leader of Kolo-Kolo community in the Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State.

The 12 suspects were arraigned on four counts of attempted kidnap, kidnap, attempted murder and murder of Etchie.

According to the police, the offences are punishable under Section 516 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004; sections 2 (2) and 3 of the Kidnapping Prohibition (amendment) Law, 2013 of Edo State; Section 324 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap 38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004; and sections 316 (1) and 319 (1) of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

The presiding judge, Justice Efe Ikpomwonba, refused the bail application sought by the counsel for the accused and ordered that they should be remanded in police custody.

Justice Ikponmwonba, thereafter, adjourned sitting to July 23, 2020, and ordered that the duplicates of the case files be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions for advice.

The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Johnson Kokumo, confirmed that Chief Johnson Atseleghe, who is the Iyasere of Warri kingdom, was in custody and was being investigated for the disappearance of the Kolo-Kolo youth leader.

According to the police boss, “Etchie was reportedly picked up by some persons believed to be acting under the instructions of Atseleghe and was assumed to have been killed.”

However, the wife of the abducted leader, Mrs Etchie, has pleaded with the Commissioner of Police, Edo State Command, The AIG Zone 5, the Inspector General of Police and other authorities to assist in the release of her husband alive.

In a recent development, some the suspects arrested in connection with the abduction and subsequent murder of Mr. Etchie, have confessed to the crime, stating that the victim was abducted on his way from Benin to Sapele and was taking to an oil palm plantation in Ologbo, where he was shot dead by a gang member, and was thereafter buried in a shallow grave.

The suspects confessed that the corpse was exhumed one hour later, allegedly under the instruction of the prime suspect, Chief Johnson Atselege, disclosing that the corpse was tied to big stones and was taken to the deepest part of the Ologbo River, where the corpse was thrown.

Meanwhile, the late Etchie had earlier cried out to the police authorities in Benin City, alleging that his life was under threat from Chief Johnson.

“I want to state here that my life is under threat. How can Johnson be fighting the Benins and be fighting the Itsekiris the same time? I have told him to stop such act, but he wouldn’t want to hear”, Mr Etchie reportedly told the police.

But reacting to the situation, some dwellers and business owners in Ologbo dukedom said they have been suffering untold terror in the hands of the now arrested Chief Atseleghe,  who they alleged never had a sympathetic heart towards them on all issues.

The respondents who preferred anonymity for fear for their lives, said they pray that justice would prevail and that the police should help in the recovery of the youth leader because he (the youth leader) is a man of peace who always ensure that every one in Ologbo enjoys their freedom.

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