It was 19th of December, a beautiful and calm Saturday, in the picturesque and serene town of Uromi, the headquarters of Esan North East Local Government Area. The cold breeze of the harmattan wind was whirling dust around the atmosphere. Ekiolele, the main market, was abuzz with activities. Cars, private or commercial, were going to and fro in the natural order of things. People were shopping for the impending Christmas as is expected at this time of the year. It was going to be an uneventful day.
Unknowingly to the peaceful people of Uromi, they were just about to be invited into the front seat as witnesses to a dance of the macabre. For at this point in the spacetime continuum, a man who was admitted into a Federal Hospital in the neighbouring town of Irrua, was told that he has but some few days to live as a result of poison he ingested. In a scene reminiscent of a blockbuster Hollywood movie, he calmly shook himself off the hospital bed, got to his car, drove to Uromi, went to his house, took a gun, seize some bullets and went out on a killing spree. The man name was Onana Osua.
When the smoke cleared, the wife of a man simply known as Eduze lay dead, so was Mr Akanu from a suburb of the town known as Idumegenlan. Mr Eduze relative also died from gunshot wounds. While Mr Onana who fled to the neighbouring town of Ubiaja was himself gunned down by the police in a gun fight that ensued during his pursuit. Mr. “Mallo” Okoebor and some two other persons got gunshot wounds from Onana’s gun.
This much was confirmed by Edo State Police spokesman, DSP Abiodun Osifo who said three persons dead while others are in critical condition in the hospital.He explained that Osua shot at a police team before the police fired back.
Uromi, the beautiful, was thrown into pandemonium. It has never seen the like of this.
The single question that task the mind of every Uromi resident both at home and in the diaspora was what could have been responsible for this insanity?
From the little IPN News could piece together, it turned out that Mr Onana and Mr Eduze both belonging to the National Union of Road Trasport Workers, NURTW, were in a life and death struggle over who should control one of the Benin Motor Parks in Uromi. According to some residents of the town who spoke to our correspondent anonymously, control of the motor park guarantees a steady source of income, political favours, or even wealth for anyone in charge. It becomes a matter of desperation for the largely ill -educated motor park boys popularly known as Agbero in the local parlance to get some control and eat the pie.
One common consensus that could be gleaned from the conversation in the town is that the State and local government is to be blamed for the impunity that is motor park administration in Uromi. The Agbero is usually patronized by the State and Local Government to keep the people in line, especially during elections. It was clear that the APC government in Edo State has taken the template of using them to destabilize the community from the PDP era. It is not surprising that they become embolden to carry illegal firearms without any fear of being ever challenged by law enforcing agencies many of whom are in the Union’s payroll.
It is expected this should be a wake-up call to the people of Uromi to take their destiny in their own hands. The reverend Traditional Ruler of Uromi, HRM is also expected to make sure his peaceful kingdom is not turned into a war zone of rival gangs. The State and Local Government should stop patronizing these gangs and reorganized the parks otherwise the people would punish them electorally.
With Additional Reporting by Eromonsele Akioyamen
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