CSOs give police 48 hours to unravel ‘complicity’ in death of ex-EdO NLC chairman

By Jethro Ibileke

Civil society organizations, CSOs, in Edo have asked the State Police Command to unravel circumstances that led to the death of a former Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Chairman, Comrade Kaduna Eboigbodin.

They alleged that Eboigbodin died at a police checkpoint in Upper Sokponba area of Benin City, where he was stopped by the operatives.

The Executive Director of African Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), David Ugolor, who led the others on a protest to NUJ secretariat in Benin, said initial investigations and firsthand accounts from the Wife if the deceased, reveal a troubling sequence of events.

Ugolor explained that the Mrs Eboigbodin said the police stopped the deceased and demanded to see his vehicle papers.

It was gathered that trouble started when the police discovered a discrepancy between the number engraved on the vehicle’s glass and the plate number.

They further alleged that the police operatives seized the vehicle’s particulars and ordered his arrest in an aggressive demeanor.

The CSOs alleged that when Eboigbodin collapsed, the operatives fled the scene, leaving his wife and passersby to rush him to a medical facility where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

When contacted late Tuesday night, the State Police Command spokesman, SP Moses Joel Yamu, said he would make a formal reaction on Wednesday.