Justice for Solomon Okumakube

TO all intents and purposes, the ongoing conflict involving the Delta State Police Command and members of the family of Solomon Okumakube, a native of Ethiope East Local Government Area of the state who was recently killed by kidnappers in the state, is a reflection of the sad state of affairs in the country. According to reports, the family of Chief Michael Okumakube of Ovu community in the state had forwarded a petition to the Delta State Commissioner of Police and the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 5, Benin City, Edo State, on the alleged delay in fishing out the killers of their son a month after the sad incident. The story is that on March 19, suspected assassins had murdered the deceased and two other occupants of a commercial vehicle between Ughelli and Agbarho in the Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State after ordering him to transfer all the money in his bank account into a bank account belonging to one of them. The transaction they forced Solomon to make was later traced to a private account in one of the country’s new-generation banks.

According to the deceased’s brother, Philip Okumakube, the incident was initially reported at Agbarho Divisional Police Headquarters but was later transferred to the office of the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ughelli Area Command, but the police had failed to act on it since March 19 when the family reported the incident. This, he said, was in spite of the monetary transaction involved in the case which should have made it easy to track the culprits. But speaking on the incident, the Delta State Police Command painted a different picture. According to the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bright Edafe, the investigating police officer had complained that he had not seen members of the Okumakube family since the first time they came to lodge their complaint. Edafe directed the family, in the event that they had any details about the incident, to “go to Agbarho Police Station and speak to them so that they (police) can work with the details.”

It is indeed saddening that Solomon Okumakube and two other innocent citizens were brutally murdered after being dispossessed of their belongings. However, tragic as the incident was, the fact that the outlaws left digital imprints that law enforcement could work on should naturally offer some consolation. In this regard, the fact that the robbers and murderers are yet to be tracked down and hauled before the law court is disturbing. Even if, as the police claimed, the complainants had not made themselves available to the investigating officer after their initial visit to Agbarho Divisional Police Headquarters, there is the veritable question of what the police did with the facts made available at the time.

Certainly, records exist of the bank account into which ransom funds were transferred, and the family of the deceased cannot be blamed for wondering why it had been difficult, if not impossible, for the police to act on the available information and track down those behind their son’s death. We do not believe that the police have any justifiable reason not to have proceeded with unraveling the case with the evidence already available to them. They could have summoned members of the family to provide any additional information required to trace the criminals behind the dastardly episode. Bank accounts are easily traceable with the help of banks and the use of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) and the National Identification Number (NIN) which all customers of the country’s Deposit Money Banks are required to have. Unravelling those who collected the ransom payments in this case should not prove too difficult.

We call on the police to stand up to be counted on this case as it could be used to showcase their readiness and proficiency in clinically going after criminals who make life difficult for ordinary, innocent citizens. This is an opportunity to prove that they could get justice for victims of crimes, especially where there are enough leads to act upon in seeking to apprehend perpetrators. On the part of the family, they should ensure that they honour any further police summons and cooperate with the investigating officers to get to the root of the matter. Human life is involved in this matter and all hands must be on deck to ensure that justice is done to the memory of Solomon Okumakube and the two other victims. Allowing the criminals involved the latitude to walk as free men threatens the lives of law-abiding citizens who could potentially become victims of their bloody trade.

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