FRSC officials beat passenger to death in Edo
FRSC
Officers of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Edo State Sector Command, have allegedly beaten a 36-year-old passenger to death for preventing his driver from parting with money demanded by the officials.
The officers are Francis Igboh, Sunday Ogi, Samson Alolade and Joseph Onolade.
The officials are attached to Abudu outpost in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State.
The passenger, Mr. Odion Omafo Samuel, had hired an Audi 80 car and was travelling in it with its driver when the FRSC personnel flagged it down at Owuahe Hill on Agbor Road.
The passenger, Mr. Odion Omafo Samuel, had hired an Audi 80 car and was travelling in it with its driver when the FRSC personnel flagged it down at Owuahe Hill on Agbor Road.
An altercation ensued between the officers and the passenger. The driver fled the scene and left Samuel at the mercy of the FRSC officials.
The FRSC personnel chased Samuel to a nearby bush where they beat him to death.
Thereafter, they abandoned the victim’s body in the bush, returned to their official vehicle and sped off.
The driver of the car, who drove Samuel from his residence at a nearby village, rushed to inform his relatives of the ugly development.
The villagers and Samuel’s relations accused the driver of abducting Samuel and thereafter handed him over to the police.
Police at Abudu swung into investigation which led to the arrest of two of the FRSC officials who eventually took investigators to the bush where Samuel’s decomposing body was found and evacuated at the weekend.
The two FRSC officers, Igboh and Alolade, are now in police custody while efforts are on to apprehend the two others, Onolade and Ogi.
The suspects allegedly accused Samuel of snatching their booking tickets.
The head of Abudu outpost of the FRSC, Mr. Ogbemi Olu, was yesterday invited to the state Police Command Headquarters in Benin for questioning.
His invitation followed the statements given by his officers.
The state FRSC Public Relations Officer (PRO), Edoma Bajack, refused to speak on the incident. He said: “I cannot give you any information on that.”
Also, the state FRSC Sector Commander, Anthony Oko, refused to speak on the issue.
He said: “I cannot comment on what I do not know. The police in Abudu are handling it.”
But the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Chidi Nwabuzor, yesterday confirmed the incident.
He said: “Our operatives in the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), police headquarters, Benin, are investigating the case. It is a case of murder.”
