Deceased was armed robbery victim —Police

BY PETER DURU, Makurdi

Anyebe

The murder of 41-year-old Peter Alechenu Anyebe in Makurdi, Benue State capital, is generating furore.
This is understandable. Alechenu was the only child of his aged mother and, until his death, was known for his gentility and humility.

While family members and friends are yet to come to terms with the bizarre circumstance surrounding the death of the graduate of human sociology and husband of the Wadata Branch Manager of First Bank in Makurdi, his 65-year-old mother, Mrs Mercy Ochoga Anyebe, has pleaded with the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Suleiman Abba, to intervene with a view to unravelling the mysterious murder of her only child.
Narrating the story of her son’s death to Sunday Vanguard amid tears, Mrs Anyebe, a widow, said she was facing the biggest ordeal of her life.

She said, “On the 18th of July, 2014, at about 7am, I got a call from my daughter in-law, Mrs. Eunice Eyime Anyebe, saying that she sent my son, Peter Alechenu Anyebe,  to her office (First Bank Wadata Branch) the night before to pick up some scrap materials that would be used for animal pen.
“She said he left the house at about 9pm and did not come back all the night, saying that calls put to his cell phone were not replied.
“At that point, I asked who was with her. She said she was with my son’s cousin, Goddy Ejembi. I immediately asked that Goddy should drive her to my house so that we could get to the police.

“I also inquired about who my son’s closest friend was. She said one Doctor Justice. Before she got to me, I ran to the house of the best friend to relay to him the story I was just told by my daughter-in-law.
“I asked the friend whether he saw my son. He said he saw Alechenu earlier that same day he disappeared.
“I told him the wife said she sent him to the security guard at her office to pick up some scrap materials that they wanted to use for animal pen, and that she was calling the number all night, that one of his phones was switched off while the one that was ringing was not picked.

“His friend also tried the number. It rang and nobody picked it; I begged his friend to go and search for him because he was not one that kept late night. I begged that he should follow me and look for my only child.
“Me, my son’s cousin, his friend and wife went to town searching for him. We searched all over the town to no avail.
“As we were going round, we called the number, and nobody picked, until some minutes to 10am we tried the number again and one man picked the call.

“We asked who he was. He said he was a police officer. I then asked what he was doing with my son’s phone. He said he could not talk to me on phone; that we should come to the ‘E Division’ Police Station.
“We went there and they revealed to us that he was shot by robbers or unknown gunmen, that his body had been deposited at the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Makurdi.

“I started crying and shouting. They moved me out of the station. I asked them to take me to where they kept his body. They said I could not follow them. I begged his friend, Doctor Justice, and the wife’s brother who went along with us; they followed them to the FMC where they saw his body.
“The facts surrounding the killing of my only son as told by the police do not tally with the physical evidence presented.

“Firstly, the photograph of his body they took did not show any struggle. The dress he wore had little or no blood stain, there were no signs of gunshot on his car and everything in the car was properly arranged.
“Secondly, examination of his body showed that he was shot on the neck and the lower abdomen; and the police failed to contact his family before taking him to the hospital. We also discovered that the points he was shot were stitched and his body cleaned up without our knowledge even though the police had his phone.

“They said his body was recovered in a gutter on Abu Shuluwa Road, opposite the Youth Centre while his car was found at the Wurukum Roundabout. My question is, how did they connect the deceased to a car that was found elsewhere?
“Furthermore, while we were calling his line and it was ringing, his phones were with the police and they did not answer any of the calls, and also did not make any effort to contact any of his relations.

“And up till now, one of his phones is missing, if the second phone is produced, we will know who called him last and that would go a long way to help the investigations”.
She continued, “After seeing all these, I wrote a petition to the AIG Zone 4, on the 22nd of July, 2014 pleading that he unravels those who murdered my son. He promised that he would get to the root of the matter.
“He also instructed that the case file be transferred from the State Police Command to Zone 4.

“I also informed him that I was moving the remains of my son from the FMC to the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, for post-mortem examination, which he approved.
“I moved him there on the 24th of July and the examination was done at about 11:45am. And the doctor confirmed that it was a case of homicide.
“Apart for the gunshot, his body was intact and unnumbered. He was my only son, only child; no brother, no sister.

“He was a complete gentleman, which can be attested to by anybody who came in contact with him. He was a struggling man even though born with a silver spoon, chose to sweat to become whatever he was before he was murdered.

“He never drank nor smoked and never belonged to any gang or group of any kind. He was a practicing Christian who worshipped at Living Faith Church.
“I’m only calling on the Inspector General of Police, IGP, to order a full scale investigation into the mysterious murder of my son because I’m suspecting that there was a set-up and a foul play in his death.

“To lose my only child and
son at my age when he is supposed to take care of me is a burden too much for me to carry. Every day I keep waiting for his call or his knock at the gate to visit me, but it’s not happening. I am helpless in this matter. “
Mrs. Anyebe, who said she had already petitioned the police authorities over the matter, said, “Whatever they do will certainly not bring back my son, but if I get justice, I will be fulfilled and it will also help check the unwarranted murder of innocent citizens in our country.”

Corroborating the story of his mother-in-law, wife of the deceased, Mrs. Eunice Anyebe, who managed to utter some words to Sunday Vanguard, lamented that so many questions relating to her husband’s death remained unanswered.
“How come the parts of his body that were shot were stitched and his body was cleaned up and embalmed? Who gave such orders and who directed the stitching of his body? Moreover there was little or no blood stain on his body or the clothes he wore.

“That is why we are insisting that the circumstance leading to the death of my husband is suspicion and we demand explanation”.
Reacting to the death of Alechenu, his mate at Mount Saint Gabriel Secondary School, Makurdi, Engr. Patrick Okoh, testified that he was a gentleman who would never engage in a quarrel with anyone.
“His demise is painful because that man was an embodiment of peace and a perfect gentleman who everyone was proud of because he never indulged in negative habits.”
“We will certainly miss a worthy dear friend who lived an exemplary life that was worthy of emulation”.

Meantime, Benue State Police Command, in a statement on Tuesday through the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Superintendent (SP) Daniel Ezeala, exonerated itself from any complicity in the matter.
The statement read, “On the 17th of July 2014, at about 11pm, police officers in Makurdi were alerted that a gang of suspected armed robbers in an ash 406 station wagon car were robbing at Katsina-Ala Street, Makurdi and that they had shot somebody after which they started heading towards Wurukum Roundabout.

Anyebe’s mum

Anyebe’s wife

“Patrol teams from the police headquarters were mobilized to the scene when another victim of the robbery (names withheld) further alerted the police on phone that robbers in a 406 station wagon came to rob him of an undisclosed amount and collected his car keys at Katsina-Ala Street, and drove off.
“The suspected armed robbers, who were chased by the police, later abandoned the 406 car they were operating in at Wurukum Roundabout and escaped, leaving the ignition key of the car.

“The car was recovered to the police headquarters where it was searched and a bunch of cars keys belonging to the victim at Katsina-Ala Street alongside an ID card belonging to Peter Alechenu Anyebe were recovered.
“The victim of the Katsina -Ala incident made a statement to the police and his car keys were released to him on bond.
“Nobody came to lay claim to the 406 car, until the following day when police received a report that a corpse was seen lying in a gutter along Abu King Shuluwa Road, Makurdi.

“The police went and evacuated the corpse that had marks of gunshot, to the Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi where the deceased was later identified as Peter Alechenu Anyebe by his relations and also as the one who owned the 406 station wagon the suspected robbers were using.
“Meanwhile, in the wake of the alleged killing of Peter Alechenu Anyebe by the aforementioned gang of armed robbers on the 17th of July 2014, full scale investigation was commenced into the case.

“It was on the 6th of August 2014 that the gang was burst with the arrest of one Torkuma Mbanongun at Wurukum Motor Park, Makurdi, with one AK47 rifle and two locally made pistols while other members of the gang took to their heels.
“The police later arrested some other members of the gang, including Sunday Chiangi alias Sunday Kpoki and UsmanYakubu all of Makurdi.”

Ezeala stated further, “They have confessed to the killing of Peter Alechenu Anyebe, the owner of the 406 station wagon, and also the murder of Sergeant Bawa Edoga of the police headquaters in Makurdi who was killed in the early hours of 31st of July 2014, and his AK 47 and 37 rounds of live ammunition (now recovered) taken”.
The PPRO said the trio also confessed to carrying out several high profile robbery incidents in Makurdi that led to the killing of some individuals.
He added that the police was on the trail of the escaping gang members, stressing that the Acting Commissioner of Police in the state, Deputy Commissioner, DCP, Femi Oyeleye, had ordered full scale onslaught on perpetrators of crimes and criminality in all parts of the state.