Angry youths have burnt a Police station in Agenebode, the headquarters of Etsako East local government area in Edo State, over allegations of kidnappings and killings in the area by suspected criminals.
Several persons were reported killed and burnt, including the police station and all the vehicles inside, which were set ablaze over allegations that suspected criminal Fulani have been kidnapping and killing people in the area for organ harvesting and selling and was allegedly being protected by the police.
A resident who spoke to Punch on the condition of anonymity said “the incident that led to the issue was the case of a young boy who was said to have been kidnapped some weeks ago and after a ransom was paid, he was still not released. It was later discovered that he was killed.
“The youths in the community were able to track the phone and the user was arrested and handed over to the police. The user was traced to the head of the Fulani community in the area.
“Apparently not satisfied with the way the police were handling the matter, the youths stormed the police station and took away the suspect, led him to the house of the Fulani leader where on prodding, he allegedly confessed to them that several kidnapped victims had been killed and buried in shallow graves after parts of their bodies were harvested.
“The infuriated youths dug up the decomposing body of the young man in the compound of the leader of the Fulani who had fled with his family and in the process of digging up the decomposing body, saw several bones believed to be those of human beings.
“In anger, the youths burnt down the building and then the business centres of several other Hausa/Fulani youths and then stormed the police station and set it ablaze.”
One of the youths who also spoke to Punch said, “Enough is enough. This must stop. The police kill our children and still collect money from us. These kidnappers will abduct our children, collect money and still kill them. They will collect N2.5m, sometimes, N3m from us and still kill the victims.”
The Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone 5, Arungwa Udo and the Commissioner of Police, Nemi Edwin-Iwo, have visited the place to restore order and have an on-the-spot assessment.
