From Cajetan Mmuta, BENIN


Operatives of the homicide department of the Edo state police command are working round the clock to unravel how a driver simply identified as Samson abducted, killed and dumped the body of his master in a septic tank in Ekiadolor community in Ovia North local government area of the state.

Already, the command has arrested the prime suspect and two others over the dastard act.
This is as the state command yesterday expressed satisfaction at the peaceful and low crime rate Christmas and New Year celebrations in parts of the state.

New Telegraph gathered that Samson had after carrying out the heinous crime sold a vehicle belonging to his boss to a herbalist at Ovbiogie village.

Samson had also told the children of the deceased that their father was kidnapped and that the abductors demanded for N2m as ransom in the process.

Source close to the state police command disclosed that the children of the victim live overseas, pointing out that Samson collected part of the sum from the unsuspecting children of his boss upon a promise that their father would be released soon.

But the bubble burst when some relatives of the deceased visited his residence only to discover his decomposing body inside a septic tank which prompted them to raise an alarm in the process.

It was learnt that attempt by Samson to collect a balance sum of N500,000 being part of the total amount from the sale of the car belonging to his boss to a herbalist that policemen from Ekiadolor Divisional station nabbed him.

The matter had since been transferred to the headquarters of the police force in the state after the incident two weeks ago.

In addition, the corpse of the victim had been recovered and deposited at an unknown morgue for necessary autopsy.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Chidi Nwabuzor when contacted yesterday said he was yet to get briefed on the ugly incident.

Nwabuzor stated that the Xmas recorded remarkable peace with few cases of crime in car snatching incidents which were recovered promptly with the proactive response of men of the command.

He said appreciation for the feat was due to God’s handwork and the effort by the state commissioner of police, Mr. Johnson Kokumo and his team for putting in place personnel to ensure peaceful yuletide among residents.