The family of late Mr. Paul Inye (J.P), a retired obial military officer and a pensioner who resides in Igbanke has been thrown into a moment of grief as the head of the household, Mr. Paul Inye was found dead in his own pool of blood along Omolua, by Hospital Road Junction, Igbanke in Edo State.
Narrating the incident to Ika Weekly, the second son of the late military officer, Mr. Alex Inye who resides in Port-Harcourt said that when he heard about the incident, he quickly traveled to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin-City on Wednesday, June 30, 2010, to see his father. “I went to UBTH the following day when I hared about the news. When I got there, I saw my father. He was gasping for breath with the aid of an oxygen box attached to him. I also saw the result of the scan text that was carried out on him, which showed a damaged skull and damaged rib cage. I saw that his neck was in a fixed state. The stream of blood from his system as a result of internal bleeding was a sight to behold,” he told the reporter.
Mr. Alex Inye said that he is convinced that his father did not die of an accident as it is being claimed from some angle. He maintained after when he saw his father he traveled home to see things for himself. He maintained that when he got home, he saw the motor bike with which his father was said to have traveled with at the time of the incident. He stated that the bike only looked like it was smashed with a heavy object at the top, including the speedometer. He said that a mere look at the motorcycle, even by a lay man could easily show that it was not an accident, since the two iron protectors on both sides of the bike, which are mostly affected when an accident occurs, including the 2 fancy lamps that were attached to the iron protectors were not touched with a single scratch, and that the headlamps of the bike including the 4 trafficator lamps were very much intact, adding that, such an accident that could claim a man’s life on a motorbike would have caused more damage to the bike. He asserted that the a toe injury which he saw in his father’s leg at the hospital in Benin could have been as a result of dragging him on the ground, and that his father was said to have been found on a soft spot by the side of the road at the time of the incident which could not have caused him his life. He also debunked the insinuation that his father died as a result of some juju that were placed on him, saying that from his close examination of the bike, coupled with the account given by some eye witnesses, his father’s death was not an accident, but was prearranged. He called on authorities concerned to look critically into the matter.
Mr. Alex Inye said that he was told by someone in the village who carried his father to Igbanke General Hospital on the day of the incident, that another man who saw Mr. Paul in his own pool of blood at Omolua Juntion came to tell him about it, upon which he and an Okada man promptly went to the place and took the wounded man to the hospital, he wondered why the man did not take his father to the hospital himself rather than looking for someone, even at that critical time.
Mr. Alex said that he was also told by another person in the village that his father left the house in the morning of Tuesday 29, 2010, to join other members of Omolua Community for a communal work. He stated that by the time the work was finished, and the people were about to share the drink which they brought for the occasion, his father excused the gathering to begin a journey to Agbor, which he has previously planned. He added that it was about 1.00pm that his mother was called to go and see her husband in the hospital. “As at the time of that incident, I was told there was nobody in our house save my cousin. My mother was already in the market where she trades, and my younger brother has gone to the workshop,” he said.
Mr. Alex Inye submitted that his father has been very nice to the community, of which the Enogie of the land also testified to his good character. He said that while his father was alive, he has been training a football team in the community comprisin over 40 youths in the area. He regretted that his father who has been very helpful to the community could be so killed, saying that if the 63 years old man had not come back home after his retirement, he would not have met his death. He lamented the situation in which good people of the land like his father could be so killed without the authority doing anything about it. “The fact is that my father was murdered. If nobody will do something about it, I want the world to know that it is not all well in this part of the country. The police in this area are aware of my father’s death and I wonder how they are treating the matter. Murder cases have continued in this community and I wonder who will be the next victim,” he posited.
In a telephone conservation with Mr. Martins Inye, first son of Mr. Paul Inye who resides in Europe, he said that when he got the news of his father’s death, he was initially informed that it was an accident, but was later told by the family back home that their father’s death did not look like an accident considering the circumstances that led to his death. He stated that his wife, who is a nurse, after getting the records of the scan test that was carried out on his father also, faulted the report of an accident. He added that his father was a soldier who went to Israel and Lebanon and later came to live in the Northern part of the country, and that it was due to religious crisis that made him move to Port Harcourt to stay with his children. He stated that his father however decided to go to the village in order to contribute to the development of the community and regretted that his father could be killed in such a wicked manner. “Just about 2 months ago my younger sister got married. My family has been living peacefully and my father who is a lover of football also has about 40 youths in the community that he has been coaching. I was shocked when I heard about his death. My father never drank anything alcoholic; neither was he a smoker, so an accident is out of the question. What I will say here is that if no proper investigation is carried out on his death it may happen again and they are only telling those of us here never to come back home, “he submitted
Mrs. Blessing Inye, wife of the late military officer expressed shock over the death of her husband. Still weeping, she said that as a woman, she has not much to do concerning the mater, but that authorities concerned should critically look into the death of her husband, as she believes there is more to it than meets the eyes concerning the death of the breadwinner of the family.
It could be recalled that within a spate of one month, a man was reportedly killed and his body, dumped somewhere in Idimuodin Quarters, Igbanke. Another man was also kidnapped and later released after some days, which led to his being hospitalized for days at Igbanke General Hospital. Just two weeks ago, a woman, Mrs. Victoria Omoregbe at Ake-Igbanke was hacked to death in the farm by suspected killers. These and other atrocities being committed in Igbanke have created so much fear in the minds of residents of the community, many of whom are crying for the law enforcement agents in the area to do something fast.
Meanwhile the body of late Mr. Paul Inye has been deposited at a mortuary somewhere in Orogodo town pending when full investigations will have been carried out.
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