If 35-year-old Amaosa Otabor, alias Biggy, had known he was walking
into his untimely death, he would have stayed at home last Sunday
morning.
Otabor was allegedly shot dead by a childhood friend in Upper Uwa, on the out skirts of Benin City.
The incident caused pandemonium in the area after residents heard a
gunshot in the compound of the suspect and it became glaringthat
somebody may have been shot. It was learnt that the deceased, who worked
with his father in their cattle farm, woke up that fateful day at about
7am and decided to visit a nearbystreet.
Sunday Vanguard was told that the deceased went to the compound to
visit one Matthew, thesuspect’s younger brother who lost his father
in-law. But when he got there, he met his friendand two other
colleagues. Vanguard learnt that as they were chatting, there was a
quarrel between the suspect and one of the other friends identified as
Ugbesia.
While the quarrel intensified, the suspect rushed to his car and emerged with a gun to the surprise of his friends.
But the deceased, who thought it was a mere threat, blocked the suspect
from pointing the gun directly at Ugbesia and appealed to him to drop
the gun. But rather than dropping the gun, the suspect shot Otabor in
the chest. The father of two fell. The friends took to their
heelswithout making any effort to rush him to hospital.
It took a while before the relations of the victimheard about the
incident and rushed to the scene. But by the time they rushed him to
hospital, he was dead. Angry youths from Upper Uwa, where the deceased
resided, stormed the residence of the suspect and razedthe house.
It was a pitiable sight when Sunday Vanguard visited the family of
the deceased as it was revealed that he wedded his wife according to
customs and traditions of the Binis only nine days before the murder to
enable him participate properly as a genuine in-law in the burial of his
father in-law scheduled for June.
Besides, Ameze, the wife of the victim, apart from their two
children, is carrying a pregnancy. She lamented: “My father is in the
mortuary. I have no mother. Now my husband who is all I had was killed
by his friend”. She narrated her ordeal: “He woke up in the morning and
said he was going to see his friendbut his friend ended up killing him.
Now I have no mother, no father, no husband. Ifhe had known that his
friend will kill him, he would not have gone there that morning. They
were childhood friends and he (suspect) even knows that I lost my father
and his corpse is in the mortuary yet he went to kill my husband”.
The wife went on: “Now, I am all alone with three children and
pregnant. I know the killer-friend as a 419 person because he uses
different cars and he will say he has dollars in the booth of his car.
And when my husband noticed that he is into 419, he started staying away
from him.
As a result, my husband became close to his junior brother called
Matthew. Matthew’s father-in-law died and it was actually Matthew my
husband went to greet when this incident happened. We just did our
wedding last week, the 11th May, so that my husband will participate
properly in the burial of my father.
And the burial is coming up next month. I wish the police will arrest
this bad friend and kill himtoo so that his children and wife will pass
through what I am passing through now. That isall I am begging the
police to do because I don’t have any where to go now. Who will train my
children?”
The father of the deceased, 75-year-old Pa Otabor, said the last he
heard from his son was when he gave him some money in the morning of the
day of murder. His words: “Last Sunday, the 19th of May, I met my son
at about 7a.m. who gave me some money in respect of a meeting and he
left home. I came back home atabout 7pm, undressed and prepared to go to
bed. But I started hearing people shouting outside that he was dead,
that one Lucky, his friend, shot him.
I asked if it was my son they were talking aboutor someone else. I
came downstairs and I askedhis brother to go to the suspect’s house to
check.
When my boy got there, they said they had taken his body to hospital.
He ran to the hospital and saw him on a stretcher; the hospital said
they could not treat him until theycalled the police. He died and they
took the corpse to the morgue. I went to the police and they said they
were looking for the suspect.
“The police told me they got information where he could be and the
DPO stationed his men there since morning and asked them not to leave
the house. The door of the house was locked, so they went for a search
warrant because they said without that they could not force the door
open”.
Asked what he heard about the murder, the father explained: “The
suspect was his friend. I heard they were about four of them in house
and an argument ensued between Ugbesia, oneof them, and the suspect. The
suspect went to bring out a gun, so my son said ‘please don’t shoot
him, Ugbesia is your friend; what are you doing? Please drop the gun’.
Then he told my son to leave the road or he willshoot him instead
and, before they could say Jack Robinson, he shot my son in the chest
and he fell. Everybody in the house ran away.
I learnt it took some persons around time to come and take my son to
hospital but it was already too late. My son worked with me at the
cattle market and now, look at his wife and children (weeping).
My appeal is that government should fish out the suspect. Peoplehave
been trying to phone him, he replied one of them that he heard they had
gone to burn down his house, that he will fight back and findthose who
burnt his house. But I ask him to come out.”
The Police Public Relations Officer in Edo State,DSP Moses Eguavoen,
described the incident asunacceptable, saying the command was
investigating the matter and on the trail of the suspect.
According to him, “though we have not made any arrest, we are on the
trail of the key suspect. The matter is being investigated seriously and
no matter how the suspect tries to run, we will get him”.
