Police nab ballot snatcher who killed two voters on Feb 25 in Edo State
One of the ballot snatches who murdered two voters on 25 February has been arrested by the Nigerian police.
During the 25 February presidential and National Assembly elections in Benin City, Ehiozomwangie Omoregbe, 34, and his political foot soldiers invaded the polling unit and snatched ballot bosses for their unknown principal.
The hoodlums shot into the voting centre to disperse voters; however, a stray bullet hit three voters, and two died on the spot while the last one miraculously survived.
On election day, it was just another day for Mrs Elizabeth Owie and Idahosa Festus Ekhuorutomwen, 25, as they joined the queue to vote in Oghehe on Benin -Sapele road in Benin City.
Idahosa was a young graduate of Material and Mythological Engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, while Elizabeth was the mother of three children.
The duo went home in a body bag as Omoregbe, and his gang worked assiduously to upturn the people’s will by stealing their voices.
Elizabeth and Festus were the two victims in Ward 9, Unit 35, In Ikpoba Okha local government area of Edo State, while the gunmen escaped with the ballot boxes and other voting materials.
The body of the two slain persons was later deposited in the mortuary in Benin City.
Edo police have been hunting for the perpetrators since 25 February, and through intelligence gathering by the Anti-kidnapping and Cybercrime Unit, Omoregbe was arrested.
Other identified suspects now at large include Ernest Skube, Aimienogho, popularly called Adviser, Victor, also called Junior Ajaka and one Festus.
The suspect who was arrested on 17 May 2023 narrates this “I was with my friends in the evening of 25 February 2023 when they were quarrelling with one of us that instead of shooting into the air, here just used the nozzle of the gun to face people in the crowd. They accused him of killing people. It was not the intention to kill anyone but to snatch the ballot boxes.”
Elizabeth’s husband, Mr Osazemwind Owie, said, “I am still in shock since my wife was murdered in her prime.
“I was called to the scene of the incident only to meet the lifeless body of my wife in her pool of blood on the floor leaving behind our three kids. I am calling for justice for the deceased persons, my wife and the young that was killed too”.
Contacted Edo State Police Public Relations Officer SP Chidi Nwabuzor confirmed the arrest of the suspect. “I want to assure the people that other persons named in the murder of the two persons, Mrs Elizabeth Owie and Idahosa Festus, will be fished out and made to face the full wrath of the law.
The suspect will be charged to court after the completion of the investigation.”
©Standard Gazette, 2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s publisher is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Standard Gazette with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.