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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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Pedro calms Igbo Community in Lagos over Kinsman's alleged killing
FOLLOWING the murder last Friday by unknown persons of a 28-year-old Igbo man, Cosmas Iwuji, at the Oregun area of Ikeja, Lagos, the state Deputy Governor Femi Pedro has called on the Igbo Community in the area to remain calm.
Speaking yesterday with hundreds of placard-carrying Igbo who had stormed the Secretariat to protest the alleged killing of Iwuji, Pedro assured them that the killers would be caught and punished.
The protesters, who were led by Chief E. Njoku alleged that Iwuji had met his death in the hands of suspected traditional Oro ritualists.
By 8.30 am yesterday the protesters, carrying placards, tree leaves and mock coffins, had blocked the ever-busy Oregun road.
One of the protesters told The Guardian that Iwuji was killed at midnight of last Friday when he was taking a sick woman to hospital.
According to him, the deceased's private parts were removed and his body hung on a gate.
But the police had a different story. According to their spokesman, Mr. Emmanuel Ighodalo "Iwuji of No 13, Oregun Road, Ikeja, had committed suicide by hanging himself on the iron gate of Barkale Fashade Street, Oregun."
He said policemen from Alausa Police Station had removed the body and deposited it at the public mortuary for autopsy.
They said the community was celebrating as at the time he died.
Ighodalo told The Guardian that investigation was still going on to unveil the true story.
But addressing the protesters during a closed-door meeting, the deputy governor said the incident called for display of maturity and patience.
He also praised the Igbo traders for coming to register their protest peacefully with the government, rather than engaging in reprisals.
Pedro noted that the Igbo have lived peacefully with their Yoruba hosts for many years, prompting the conferment of chieftaincy title on some Igbo leaders in the community.
He, therefore, urged them to discountenance the allegation that the Igbo are despised by the Yoruba or that the death had an ethnic colouration."
Pedro said the act was a criminal offence, which would be dealt with as such.
The deputy governor called on the police to expedite action on their investigation and promised another meeting between the leaders of the two tribes.
A delegation comprising the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mrs Remi Adikwu Bakare, her Special Duties Counterpart Chief Dele Ajomale and the Special Adviser to the Deputy Governor on Political Affairs, Mr Lanre Ogunyomi later paid a condolence visit to the deceased's family.
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