By LUCKY EJEMA
BENIN CITY – The Police in Benin City, Edo State have alerted the public of the escape of some criminal suspect from the Iguobazuwa Police detention.
The suspects were among those arrested in the wake of the crisis that trailed the 2012 Governorship election in the state.
Though the Police authorities are yet to make any official statement, our source however gave the names of the escaped suspects to include Osaro Obasogie, Otasowie Agbonlahor, Monday Omoregie, Jimoh Egbon and Francis Edobor.
The were said to have escaped on August 4 following early morning attack on the detention facility at Iguobazuwa, Police division in Ovia-South-West Local Government Area of Edo State where they were being detained following ongoing investigation into their matter.
They were been detained following the killing of two persons in the violence that occurred during the election in Ward 7, Udo commmunity in Ovia South West Local Government Area of the State.
It would be recalled that after the killing of the two persons, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress APC) in the area and their relation, Mr Tony Kabaka had mobilised thugs, ostensibly to attack supporters of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) following realisation that a principal suspect in the killing, Monday Omoregie was the polling agent of PDP during the election.
Reacting to the news of the escaped suspects, Mr Johnson Okunzuwa a member of APC gave the names of the two persons killed during the 2012 governorship election as Igbinovia Monday (aka Monosa) and Odion Ikhile.
He wondered why the Police had delayed prosecuting those linked to the killings at the polling unit, including the PDP agencies, Monday Omoregie.
According to him, trouble started when armed thugs invaded the Polling Unit 7 in Udo commmunity at about 2pm while the election was on-going and started shooting sporadically into the air.
This, it was gathered caused people to scamper for safety, thereby, creating avenue for the armed thugs to run away with the ballot box.
He said that when calm finally returned, two persons were lying liveless, while the election came to an end abruptly.
Consequently, he said that security personnel on election duties later came to the election venue and arrested some persons, including Monday Omoregie, the polling agent of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
He also threatened to mobilise his loyalists and supporters of his party to eliminate the life of Omoregie for daring to conspire with the killers of his two brothers.
It was reliably gathered that the delay in prosecuting since 2012 was occasioned by what observers said was the refusal of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) to advise the court on their case as requested.
