When Chibuike Edeh, 27, left his
residence in the early hours of Friday, March 13, 2015, for Protea
hotel, located off Sapele Road where he worked for two and a half years,
little did he know it was to meet his gruesome and untimely death over
alleged theft of N48,000. , reports from Benin, the effort of his
relatives in unraveling the controversy surrounding his death.
Late Chibuike Edeh was described by those who knew him as a kind, humble and amiable man who gave all he had to put smiles on the faces of others. Because of his commitment to any given task, he was said to have gotten the Protea Hotel job on the recommendation of a white Briton who admired his dedication to work. He was said to have worked in hotel in GRA, Benin City, Edo State.
The gruesome and mysterious murder of 27-year-old Chibuike Edeh in the hands of operatives of the Police Area Command, Sapele Road and senior management staff of Protea Hotel, all in Benin has sparked wild protests by family members and friends.
Already, the Police Area Commander in charge of Sapele Road Police station, Benin, the investigative police officer (IPO) handling an alleged theft of the N48,000 and the chief security officer (CSO) of Protea Hotel, are in a quagmire over the complicity that led to the gruesome murder of the young man in police custody.
The protesters demanded for explanation from the police and the hotel authority on the questionable manner he was murdered over alleged theft of N48,000.
Edeh, a housekeeper/cleaner of the hotel and indigene of Nkanu East local government area of Enugu State’s heavily mutilated body was found with broken legs, deep cuts on his head and heavily mutas well as burnt neck and back, at Imaguero College located adjacent the Police Area Command on Sapele Road at about 11:45pm on Saturday.
The body of the deceased was later dumped at the morgue of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital and labelled ‘unknown person’ by the hospital authority, a development that angered the family members and friends. Some of them said they spoke with the late Edeh at the police premises after he was arrested.
He was said to have been arrested on Friday and taken into custody by the police at the Sapele Road Area Command on the invitation of the management staff of Protea Hotel, a stone-throw from the state police command headquarters over alleged theft of N42,000 belonging to a guest who lodged at the hotel.
The drama about the sudden death of the housekeeper in the custody of the police at the Area command started when family members and friends stormed the area at about 10am on Saturday to buy him food and make arrangements for his bail.
It was learnt that the family members were told by the CSO of the hotel to pay about N48,000 against the earlier N42,000 the hotel claimed went missing in the hotel room by a hotel guest even as the family said they had only N42,000 on them and pleaded for more time to make up the balance.
Leadership Weekend learnt that hours after the deceased’s mother, Mrs Edeh left the police station to seek for money to make up the N48,000 and returned along with other relatives, they were shocked to hear that ‘somebody’ had bailed their son and he had since left the police station, a development that heightened their curiosity.
The family said the name of their son was listed as number 18 on police suspects’ crime board, stressing that his name was suddenly deleted from the board. The deceased was said to have told the mother during her initial visit to the police station, that he feared that he would be killed before her return.
Spokesman of the protesters, Stanley Aiwierioba said, ‘‘Chibuike Edeh went to work on Friday as usual, as a staff of Protea Hotel near NNPC Mega Station. On Saturday evening, the CSO of the hotel called us to come to the hotel that there was an issue. So we hurried to the hotel and he said that Chibuike stole money from one of the customers’ rooms.
“When we asked him about Chibuike, he said he was at the Area command, not too far from the hotel. On reaching there, we saw the IPO and Chibuike. We asked him (Chibuike) and he said he did not take any money as alleged but that they forced him to say that he stole the money. We asked the IPO what we were to do and he said we must pay the N42,000 before they release the boy, that was on Saturday morning.”
A cousin of the deceased, who gave his name as Alex Toochi Nwobodo disclosed that an activist had alerted the family that the body of Chibuike was taken to the UBTH.
He said, “We were told that he stole N48,000; we went to Protea Hotel with the money to pay them to release our brother, but they said we should go to the Area command. When we went to the Area command, we saw his name on the board. They brought him out and we gave him food; that was on Saturday. But for us to go back and bring the remaining money for them to release Chibuike, we could not see our brother again.”
They stated that efforts to reach the IPO, one Mr Arishe and staff of the hotel were resisted,, adding that they were driven away from both the police station and the hotel.
The family, who demanded for justice in the matter also appealed to the state commissioner of police, Mr Samuel Adegbuyi and the state governor, Adams Oshiomhole, to wade into the matter with a view to unravelling the circumstances surrounding the death of the young man.
A senior staff of Protea Hotel who did not want to disclose his name told Leadership Weekend that, the late Edeh “had been the staff of the hotel for the past two years and last week, I cannot tell you exactly what transpired. A guest complained about a missing item because he attended to the room and the matter was referred to the police. That is all I can tell you right now. At this point, that is all I can tell you; I am not the PRO. The chief security officer who can give you all the information about that is with the police right now. He has gone to the police. You can speak with the police who will give you details about what happened.”
The state’s police public relations officer, DSP Joseph Edoigiawerie, when contacted on the matter, said Chibuike confessed that he stole the money and that he kept it on the perimeter fence demarcating the NNPC and the Portea Hotel.
Edoigiawerie claimed that it was while the suspect led policemen to the spot where he kept the money that he tried to run away and was killed in the process by a Toyota Camry car. However, the gory picture of late Chibuike’s mutilated face showed that he was brutalised, leaving him with deep cuts, exposing his teeth, while his back appeared burnt with a pressing iron as a result of several hours of torture.
The aggrieved family of the victim has said that the explanation of the police on what led to the death of Chibuike while in their custody raises more questions than answers.
Many questions by the family of the deceased and members of the public which are begging for answers are:
(1) At what point and time was the late Chibuike knocked down by the said Camry car?
(2) How come traffic officials were not invited to carry out investigation at the scene of the accident?
(3) How come the driver of the said camry car was not arrested?
(4) How did the corpse of Chibuike get to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital if the police claimed he was crushed by a car while in their custody?
(5) Why was his corpse labelled “unknown person?’’
As it stands, only God knows what really transpired between Chibuike, Protea Hotel and the Police that led to the death of the young man.
Late Chibuike Edeh was described by those who knew him as a kind, humble and amiable man who gave all he had to put smiles on the faces of others. Because of his commitment to any given task, he was said to have gotten the Protea Hotel job on the recommendation of a white Briton who admired his dedication to work. He was said to have worked in hotel in GRA, Benin City, Edo State.
The gruesome and mysterious murder of 27-year-old Chibuike Edeh in the hands of operatives of the Police Area Command, Sapele Road and senior management staff of Protea Hotel, all in Benin has sparked wild protests by family members and friends.
Already, the Police Area Commander in charge of Sapele Road Police station, Benin, the investigative police officer (IPO) handling an alleged theft of the N48,000 and the chief security officer (CSO) of Protea Hotel, are in a quagmire over the complicity that led to the gruesome murder of the young man in police custody.
The protesters demanded for explanation from the police and the hotel authority on the questionable manner he was murdered over alleged theft of N48,000.
Edeh, a housekeeper/cleaner of the hotel and indigene of Nkanu East local government area of Enugu State’s heavily mutilated body was found with broken legs, deep cuts on his head and heavily mutas well as burnt neck and back, at Imaguero College located adjacent the Police Area Command on Sapele Road at about 11:45pm on Saturday.
The body of the deceased was later dumped at the morgue of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital and labelled ‘unknown person’ by the hospital authority, a development that angered the family members and friends. Some of them said they spoke with the late Edeh at the police premises after he was arrested.
He was said to have been arrested on Friday and taken into custody by the police at the Sapele Road Area Command on the invitation of the management staff of Protea Hotel, a stone-throw from the state police command headquarters over alleged theft of N42,000 belonging to a guest who lodged at the hotel.
The drama about the sudden death of the housekeeper in the custody of the police at the Area command started when family members and friends stormed the area at about 10am on Saturday to buy him food and make arrangements for his bail.
It was learnt that the family members were told by the CSO of the hotel to pay about N48,000 against the earlier N42,000 the hotel claimed went missing in the hotel room by a hotel guest even as the family said they had only N42,000 on them and pleaded for more time to make up the balance.
Leadership Weekend learnt that hours after the deceased’s mother, Mrs Edeh left the police station to seek for money to make up the N48,000 and returned along with other relatives, they were shocked to hear that ‘somebody’ had bailed their son and he had since left the police station, a development that heightened their curiosity.
The family said the name of their son was listed as number 18 on police suspects’ crime board, stressing that his name was suddenly deleted from the board. The deceased was said to have told the mother during her initial visit to the police station, that he feared that he would be killed before her return.
Spokesman of the protesters, Stanley Aiwierioba said, ‘‘Chibuike Edeh went to work on Friday as usual, as a staff of Protea Hotel near NNPC Mega Station. On Saturday evening, the CSO of the hotel called us to come to the hotel that there was an issue. So we hurried to the hotel and he said that Chibuike stole money from one of the customers’ rooms.
“When we asked him about Chibuike, he said he was at the Area command, not too far from the hotel. On reaching there, we saw the IPO and Chibuike. We asked him (Chibuike) and he said he did not take any money as alleged but that they forced him to say that he stole the money. We asked the IPO what we were to do and he said we must pay the N42,000 before they release the boy, that was on Saturday morning.”
A cousin of the deceased, who gave his name as Alex Toochi Nwobodo disclosed that an activist had alerted the family that the body of Chibuike was taken to the UBTH.
He said, “We were told that he stole N48,000; we went to Protea Hotel with the money to pay them to release our brother, but they said we should go to the Area command. When we went to the Area command, we saw his name on the board. They brought him out and we gave him food; that was on Saturday. But for us to go back and bring the remaining money for them to release Chibuike, we could not see our brother again.”
They stated that efforts to reach the IPO, one Mr Arishe and staff of the hotel were resisted,, adding that they were driven away from both the police station and the hotel.
The family, who demanded for justice in the matter also appealed to the state commissioner of police, Mr Samuel Adegbuyi and the state governor, Adams Oshiomhole, to wade into the matter with a view to unravelling the circumstances surrounding the death of the young man.
A senior staff of Protea Hotel who did not want to disclose his name told Leadership Weekend that, the late Edeh “had been the staff of the hotel for the past two years and last week, I cannot tell you exactly what transpired. A guest complained about a missing item because he attended to the room and the matter was referred to the police. That is all I can tell you right now. At this point, that is all I can tell you; I am not the PRO. The chief security officer who can give you all the information about that is with the police right now. He has gone to the police. You can speak with the police who will give you details about what happened.”
The state’s police public relations officer, DSP Joseph Edoigiawerie, when contacted on the matter, said Chibuike confessed that he stole the money and that he kept it on the perimeter fence demarcating the NNPC and the Portea Hotel.
Edoigiawerie claimed that it was while the suspect led policemen to the spot where he kept the money that he tried to run away and was killed in the process by a Toyota Camry car. However, the gory picture of late Chibuike’s mutilated face showed that he was brutalised, leaving him with deep cuts, exposing his teeth, while his back appeared burnt with a pressing iron as a result of several hours of torture.
The aggrieved family of the victim has said that the explanation of the police on what led to the death of Chibuike while in their custody raises more questions than answers.
Many questions by the family of the deceased and members of the public which are begging for answers are:
(1) At what point and time was the late Chibuike knocked down by the said Camry car?
(2) How come traffic officials were not invited to carry out investigation at the scene of the accident?
(3) How come the driver of the said camry car was not arrested?
(4) How did the corpse of Chibuike get to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital if the police claimed he was crushed by a car while in their custody?
(5) Why was his corpse labelled “unknown person?’’
As it stands, only God knows what really transpired between Chibuike, Protea Hotel and the Police that led to the death of the young man.
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