OKADA (BENIN CITY) – Tragedy struck on Tuesday, the 3rd of March, 2015, in Izakagbo Community, Ovia North-East Local Government of Edo State, as a young girl, Miss Ruth Ovie, was hacked to death by some masked persons, while another, Miss Osaro Precious, luckily escaped the fatal ordeal by the skin of her teeth.
According to a source, who incidentally is a friend of the deceased and the fleeing Miss Osaro Precious (who pleaded anonymity), the trouble that culminated to the fatal event began, when the deceased, Miss Ruth Ovie and Miss Osaro Precious, members of the Blue Queens, the female arm of Eiye Confraternity, a notorious and dreaded cult group in Benin City, believed to enjoy the patronage of some elites in the society with branches across the country, for some undisclosed reasons, decided to denounce their memberships, a decision which was rumoured not to have gone down well with the leaders of the cult group, who it was rumoured, warned them to desist from the act, causing the duo to relocate from their home in town, to Izakagbo Community, the ancestral home of Miss Osaro Precious.
To worsen the situation, our source further disclosed that few days to the fatal incident, the deceased, Miss Ruth Ovie was seen with a boy and another girl, rumoured to be members of a rival cult group, and that this incident probably stoked the anger of the members of the Blue Queens and Eiye Confraternity, their male counterpart, to a crescendo. On the fateful day, the community was awakened by the angry chants of some masked gentlemen and ladies, numbering about 30, welding dangerous weapons. It was gathered that upon hearing the chants of the invading cult members, Miss Osaro Precious, who had gone to ease herself, slipped through the backdoor into the bush and ran away, but her friend, Miss Ruth Ovie was not so fortunate, and was hacked to death by the irate cult members, who in anger was reported to have shot sporadically into the air, in display of their disappointment in not being able to catch Miss Osaro Precious, but openly declared that she would meet with the same fate as her deceased friend, if caught. How they were able to track the duo from the city to the village, remains a mystery.
When asked by our correspondent if she or anybody in the community recognised any of the assailants, our source retorted sarcastically: “ Hmm. Even if we know, you think say we go talk? Make them go kill us or our family members later, abi?. You try”.
This underscores the fear nurtured by the society in giving information to the police in the fight against crime in the society, as they do not trust the police to give them adequate protection, even if willing to assist.
Year in, year out, there have been series of cult-related killings across the country, with cases sadly ending up unresolved. As at the time of filing this report, the remains of the deceased Miss Ruth Ovie had been taken away to Warri, Delta State where she hailed from for burial by her parents, while the escapee, Miss Osaro Precious was rumoured to have gone self-exiled, for fear of dear life.
