Alleged police protection for suspected criminal Fulani herdsmen who have been kidnapping and killing people in Agenebode for organ harvesting and selling, Sunday afternoon (today, October 13) led to mayhem in the community and headquarters of Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State, with many people reportedly killed and burnt.
The police station and all the vehicles parked on the premises were also reportedly set ablaze.
A resident of Agenebode told journalists that the immediate cause of the carnage was the case of a young boy who was kidnapped some weeks ago and was not released even after ransom had been paid.
But, some youths in the community, who were determined to get to the bottom of the matter, tracked the phone and the user was arrested and handed over to the police.
However, in the process of tracking the phone, the youths traced the user to the head of the Hausa/Fulani community in the area, it was learnt.
Not satisfied with the way the police were handling the matter, the youths of the community reportedly stormed the police station and took away the suspect who, it was gathered, led them to the house of the Hausa/Fulani leader who allegedly confessed to them that several kidnapped victims had been killed and buried in shallow graves after parts of their bodies had been harvested.
The confession led the angry youths to dig out the decomposing body of the young man in the compound of the leader of the Hausa/Fulani who had reportedly fled with his family.
It was gathered that in the process of digging up the decomposing body, the youths saw several bones believed to be those of human beings.
The discovery was said to have aggravated the anger of the youths, forcing them to burn down the building of the Hausa/Fulani leader, the business centres of several other Hausa/Fulani youths, allegedly killing some of them and storming the police station to set it ablaze.
“Enough is enough, this must stop. Police kill our children and still collect money from us; these kidnappers will kidnap our children, collect money and still kill them. They will collect N2.5 million, sometimes N3 million from us and still kill the victims,” one enraged youth was quoted as saying.
When contacted, Chairman of the Council, Benedicta Atoh, could not offer any comment as one of her aides said she was too shocked to talk.
At the time of this report, the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone 5, Arungwa Udo and the state Commissioner of Police, Nemi Edwin-Iwo, were said to have visited the troubled community to restore order and have an on the spot assessment.
On his part, spokesman of the Edo State Command, Moses Yamu, when contacted, replied through a text message, “Will get back to you ASAP (as soon as possible)”.
