By Ikhili Ebalu, Benin City
The people of Ikabigbo Community in Etsako West local government Area of Edo state have appealed to the Inspector General of Police, Baba Alkali Usman, to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of their son, Sergeant Zekeri Bilal Dauda, serving at the Edo state Police command Headquarters, Benin City.
Sergeant Zekeri attached to Criminal Investigation Department (CID) went on official duty with his colleagues last Saturday but reportedly died in an accident on the Benin-Auchi by-pass.
Addressing journalists in Benin City on behalf of the community, Hon. Zibiri Mohammed, the immediate past Secretary to Etsako West Local Government said his colleagues at the command called the family members on Saturday night that Zekeri died in accident during official duty on Benin-Auchi by-pass.
“We mobilized to the station and met the three other officers whom they went on the official duty together but sustained no injury in accident in which the impact resulted in bursting the skull of our son”,he said.
Mohammed said the discovering raises questions and suspicious about the claims of his colleagues in the vehicle who didn’t even sustained a scratch on the body.
“Upon questioning, the colleagues explained that the accident happened while on duty along Benin Auchi bypass but when asked about his phone, they couldn’t produced it which further raises more suspicious coupled with the minimal impact on the vehicle that involved in the accident that resulted in a broken skull.
“On a proper look at the vehicle, we saw that the two tyres on the driver’s side of the vehicle were blood stained and also a whitish substance that appeared to be part of the content of the broken skull”,he added.
He said on calling the deceased cell phone, someone answered and said he picked the phone at G.T junction, adjacent Ambrose Alli University College of Medicine, Ekpoma where the alleged accident happened, in which his colleagues claimed happened in Benin.
“We have recovered the phone from the person at Ekpoma who also gave us more revelations that it was not an accident but clear case of murder by his colleagues.
“We are appealing to the state police commissioner, AIG Zone 5, headquarters,Benin and the Inspector General of Police to investigate the matter to unravel the circumstances surrounding our son’s death”,he stated.