The family members of Obi Abibiya ─ who was beheaded by his friend, Asu Ochang ─ say they have lost confidence in the ability of the Cross River State Police Command to prosecute the suspect. It was gathered that Ochang beheaded Abibiya for “mocking” him during the Eti August festival held in the Boki Boshu area of the state.
It was gathered that the deceased, who was described as being famous for cracking jokes, did one about his friend at the event.
Enraged by the joke, Ochang reportedly left the venue for his house. PUNCH Metro learnt that the suspect, armed with a cutlass, went to his friend’s house in the midnight and decapitated him.
Abibaya’s elder sister, Mrs. Blessing Obi, said the family feared that the police had perfected a plan with Ochang’s family to free him.
She said, “Nobody knew untill in the morning. I never thought Ochang could do that to someone he called his friend. My brother’s death is hard to take.
“The community chiefs ordered some men to ransack the neighbourhood. In the process, they found a cloth and a cutlass with bloodstains at Ochang’s house. He said my brother made fun of him in the public and that he killed him out of anger.
“He was arrested and detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Calabar. As I speak with you he has been released. He is now in a neigbouring village called Kparabong. This is a murder case. He shouldn’t have been allowed to go scot free.”
A relative of the deceased, Abaand Obi, said Ochang was nearly lynched by aggrieved youths, but for the intervention of chiefs and elders of the community who handed him over to the police.
“But we learnt that Ochang has been released from custody. I did not believe until I saw him myself at Kparabong in October, almost two years after he killed Abibiya in cold blood,” he said.
When contacted on the telephone, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, ASP Bassey Hogan, toldPUNCH Metro that the suspect was in custody. He said, “The matter is already in court and he has been remanded. He admitted that he was guilty of the crime. His case file is with the Directorate of Public Prosecutions and the trial will commence as soon as the legal advice is out.”
Hogan promised to make enquiries and get back to our correspondent when he was told that the defendant had been reportedly released. He had, however, yet to do so as of press time.
No comments:
Post a Comment