Killing of Igbo Trader, Police Arrests 10 Suspects

Police detectives investi­gating the Sunday even­ing killing of an Igbo trader in the Apo area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have arrested 10 suspects.

The suspects were picked up in different parts of the nation’s capital between Monday and Wednesday.A senior police officer in the FCT Police Command said Wednesday that the search for more suspects believed to be involved in the bru­tal killing of the youth was still on and more persons may be arrest­ed before the week runs out.

Last Sunday evening, the Igbo trader, identified by his kinsmen as IK, was beaten up and burnt to death by some Hausa commer­cial motorcyclists (Okada riders) over a disagreement on the fare charged by a cyclist.

The incident was greeted by a violent protest on Monday morn­ing by the aggrieved Igbo traders leading to the destruction of some vehicles and tricycles believed to be owned by the Hausa.

It took the intervention of the security agencies as well as leaders of the Igbo and Hausa communities before normalcy returned to the area.

When the police was contact­ed on the progress of their investi­gation of the incident, a senior officer said that 10 suspects were being interrogat­ed over their roles in IK’s death.

IK reportedly met his death when he went out on that fate­ful Sunday evening for a drink in a garden a few metres from his shop.

The police source, who sought anonymity, said that more arrests would be made in the days ahead.

He said: “I can confirm to you that we have arrested more than 10 suspects in connection with the incident. Though I am not of­ficially asked to talk to you, I can tell you that the FCT Police Com­missioner, Mr. Wilson Inalegwu, is working hard to ensure that all those who were involved in the killing are arrested and are dealt with in accordance with the law.

“As far as this current FCT Commissioner of Police is con­cerned, no stone will be left un­turned and all those involved will be arrested and brought to book,” he assured.Eyewitnesses said IK was killed during an argument with one Hausa Okada rider who de­manded N200 instead of the N100 the deceased offered for the ride.

A resident of Apo Village said: “Those at that scene told us that like the normal outing on Sundays, at about 5pm, the young man (IK) went to a refreshment garden in Apo along the Mechan­ics Village, Abuja, to have some drinks.

“Around 7:20pm, he set to leave, moving in a chartered mo­torcycle and when the argument erupted, a group of Okada riders gathered and beat him up, killed him and also burnt him.”