Edo Killings: It’s Easy To Arrest Perpetrators, Murders Videoed – Senator Shehu Sani

By Adesina Soyooye

A former Senator and Activist, has lamented the consequences of the gruesome Edo killings for Nigerians, countrywide, especially, those who travel by road. He is also worried that all those who took part in the murder of the travelers, have not been arrested, submitting that it shouldn’t be difficult as it was videoed by the perpetrators.

Recall that about 16 Nigerians of Hausa extraction, who left Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and were on their way to Kano, to celebrate Sallah with families and friends, were intercepted at Uromi, Edo State, murdered and their vehicle and bodies set ablaze. Only a few survived the inexplicable incident.

Outrage has since greeted the killing of the innocent Nigerians by a vigilante group which accosted them, and the mob which joined  to kill them in cold blood.

The explanation was that the travelers were carrying dane guns, and so, were mistaken for kidnappers.

Why those who intercepted them did not hand them over to the Police instead of killing them is a question nobody has been able to answer. What is obvious is  that lives no longer have any meaning in the the Country.

A devastated President Bola Tinubu has given security agents a marching order to arrest all those involved. But at the time of filing this report, only about five of them have been arrested.

Reacting to the situation, Shehu Sani wondered why it is taking this long to arrest them. This is more so, according to him, as the evidence is obvious and easily   accessible.

In a post on his X page on Sunday, he wrote:  “Everything was recorded in a video. Arresting the Edo murderers should not be a difficult thing to do for our security agencies. Justice must be done in this case to set an example, avert reoccurence and save other travelers in all parts of the country.”

All hands, however, are on deck to arrest the perpetrators and deescalate the tension.

Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has  dissolved all illegal vigilante outfits in the State, and sacked the Commander of the State-owned Vigilante Organization, a retired Commissioner of Police.

The Governor of Kano State, Kabir Yusuf, has set up  a Committee to liase with the Edo State Government. The Northern Governors Forum has very strongly condemned the gory incident. And so did the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN.

But an Arewa Group has given an ultimatum for the bodies of the dead to be produced and transported back to their State.

However, factional Emir of Kano, Emir Lamido Sanusi, has called for calm among his subjects and appealed to them not to carry out any retaliatory action.

Yet, tension remains high.