By SIMON EBEGBULEM, BENIN CITY

The killing of a 400-level student in the Science Laboratory Technology Department of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Ibrahim Momodu, allegedly by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO)  in charge of Ogida Police Station, Mrs Comfort Afegbuai,  is causing tension in Benin City.

Edo State  Police Command  said the deceased was an armed robber; that he was shot at the scene of a crime at a bus stop close to his residence. In a statement  by the police spokesman in the state, Moses Eguavoen, he narrated that “ events leading to the killing started  on the said day  when operatives  at the Ogida Division,  led by the DPO, while on routine patrol within the area, intercepted  a  motor cycle at Obayuwana junction on Siluko Road, Benin City.”

The suspect, according to him,  immediately brought out a  Russian made cut to size  double barrel gun, but policemen  responded swiftly and shot at the suspect later known to be Ibrahim Momodu who died on his  way to hospital.

“The exhibits recovered from him include one Russian made cut to size double barrel gun, eight live cartridges, one unregistered red Qlink motor cycle, two handsets and one bag containing the items. Efforts are on to arrest the other fleeing suspects while investigation continues”, Eguavoen added.

**Momodu … life cut short , Mother… police lying against the dead

But there was outrage after the police statement as thousands of youths and members of the civil society thronged  the streets of Benin City, including the Edo State Government House, protesting the killing. The protest, on Tuesday, paralyzed activities in the Edo State capital  for several hours, as the protesters  insisted that the deceased was not an armed robber and called on the state governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, to set up a judicial panel of inquiry. Consequently, Oshiomhole who met with the family of the deceased at Government House, promised to set up a  panel of  inquiry to unearth the truth.

Following the panel set up by the state government to investigate the matter, the body of the deceased was exhumed on Thursday by the police.

Counsel to the family of the deceased student,  Jefferson Uwoghiren, said the police account of the incident was a “blatant lie”, explaining that Momodu was shot dead after he dropped from a public bus close to his  house. His words: “In the past few days, we note with concern  attempts by the police to openly disclaim liability for the gruesome murder while privately admitting same.

For justice’s sake, a life of a promising young man is the subject here and the police should stop all these provocative and insensitive cock and bull stories of a bike rider who was attempting to shoot at the police. It is not only false in its entirety, it is a cheap and indolence attempt at covering up a fact of a premeditated murder”.

According to him, the police accepted liability for the killing when a delegation, led by a  Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mrs Hilda Harrison, visited the Momodu  family to offer their condolences. “It is a very painful story of a trigger happy police man.

The boy alighted from a public bus close to the house; they accosted the boy, before anything could be said they shot him, “he stated.. “Realizing that they had done something terrible, they produced some cut to size gun in a bag that could not even contain the same bag that was with the boy. They said he was an armed robber and proceeded immediately to bury the boy.

There are police procedures in apprehending people. There is a big lie in terms of what the police have done, they have been doing this kind of things and getting away with it. But we are happy in this case that the police authorities have removed the accused police woman from office and facing interrogation and she is going to face murder charges.

“It is enough to kill somebody, but you will be destroying the person spiritually and the family when you tag him an armed robber. We will not take that, the police know  they have a big case in hand. So we have exhumed the body, we have our pathologists ready and we are ready to take it up from there”

Civil society groups,  led by the Executive Director of the African Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Rev David Ugolor, who commended the state government for setting up the panel, said it will afford the public the opportunity to ascertain the true account of what happened.

Mother of the deceased, Mrs Osas Momodu,  who cried for justice, insisted that her son was not an armed robber but a student of UNIBEN. She narrated: “ My son had  not been passing the night outside. So when I waited  and he did not come back on  Monday night, on Tuesday,  I left for work.

I came back and discovered that the food I kept for him was still there. So I started calling his line but he was not picking. On Wednesday, I went to lodge a  complaint that my son did not come home, so they referred me to Ogida Police Station. When I got there, the DPO was not there, so I came  home.

It was my senior brother who called me from Port Harcourt that I should not bother as  they said my son had  been killed. I said what!  I now went back to the Ogida Police Station, but they  referred me to the state Police Command.

I met one plain clothes police officer at the state command who said, ‘ oh madam, you are here for this shameful act?’ I asked what was the

meaning of that? He said, ‘ Was it not that boy that was killed around the bus park at Ogida who was terrorizing the place?’ I told him immediately that my son was not a bus driver but a student of UNIBEN.  He told me my son was killed at the scene of the incident. I said  my son was never an armed robber. He said my son was involved in robbery and they opened fire on him. They gave me two versions of the story, that he was caught in a robbery scene, caught with a bag he snatched from someone.

That some money was recovered from him. I told the police that I had heard two versions of one story. I said  where was the body deposited? He said the body had been buried.  I shouted. I said God  will avenge  for me, I  left there in tears. My son  was even on industrial  attachment in a pharmaceutical company.

He was my first son and only son out of  five children. Police is claiming that they saw a gun with him, but that is a big lie. The Deputy Commissioner of Police who visited us said the DPO said she shot him on the leg, so they want to exhume the body to know whether what the DPO said is true or not.”