Murder: Group absolves Edo Speaker of killing, illegal land acquisition – Vanguard
By Ozioruva Aliu
BENIN CITY – A group; Edo Coalition for Justice (ECJ), Wednesday absolved the Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly, Hon Marcus Onobun of complicity in the alleged death of a young man identified as Osaheni Osadolor over a parcel of land.
People from Obagie-Uwafiokun community of Ovia North East Local Government Area led by on John Eweka on Tuesday accused the Speaker of sponsoring the killing of Osadolor when they protested to Edo state government house.
But in a statement made available to journalists in Benin City, Spokesman of ECJ, Andrew Uwe said the protesters were seeking to malign the name of a man who is working hard to see to the development of the state.
He noted that the police had already concluded preliminary investigation on the alleged murder matter and transmitted the report to the headquarters of the state Police Command before the visit of Onobun to an area he had land which he said does not have any bearing with the community adding that the said Osadolor;s death had happened before the visit of the Speaker on Sunday, March 14 where he was accosted by a young man who was identified as the brother of the deceased.
The statement read in part, “It was after that that the Speaker went with the man to make a written report and submitted it to the Divisional Police Officer. He told the DPO to investigate the matter after which he left the police station.
“On Monday, the DPO called to say the Enogie of Obagie and some chiefs were at the station to bail the young man that was being investigated. He invited the Speaker to come.
“When he (the Speaker) got to the police station, he was taken aback when he saw women and other youths protesting that their brother had been killed, but when the Speaker entered the station, he sighted the young man he brought to the station standing in front and wondered what they meant by killing someone.
“It was at that point that the DPO said an incident happened some days earlier where a young man died and that the station had concluded its preliminary investigative report on the matter and that the incident did not happen anywhere close to the land that was being cleared. He said he had even given the preliminary report on that matter to the state Police headquarters in Benin City.
“Somehow, on Tuesday, we started seeing another narrative being dished to the public.”
