….Demands compensation for family

From George Onyejiuwa

The people of the sleepy village of Umudim Odu in Amaukwu Autonomous Community in Orodo, Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State are still in deep sorrow following the rude shock of the gruesome killing of Mrs Bridget Agbaheme at the Wambai market in Kano State by a mob of fanatical Muslims.

Members of the community, who were seen wearing long faces when Oriental News visited, expressed shock on the brutal manner Mrs Agbaheme was dispatched to the great world beyond.

A native of the village, Mr Nwaobasi Agu told Oriental News that when the news of the murder of the Mrs Agbaheme filtered into the village, they dismissed it as a mere rumour, but they discovered that it was unfortunately true.

He, however, disclosed that he had not set his eyes on the deceased and her husband for several years as they do not come home regularly.

Nonetheless, elderly man who condemned the ugly incident wanted the Federal Government to punish all those involved in the dastardly act.

His words: “I have not set my eyes on Bridget and her husband who is my kinsman for a long time now because they don’t come home regularly. But when we heard that Bridget had been killed in Kano by Muslims in the market where she had a shop, we were very shocked and our people have been very sad.

“The government must punish the culprit very severely because it is not good for anybody to kill people for the fun of it and the government must also compensate the family, even though no amount of money would bring her back to life”.

Similarly, Mr Abara Mbato said that the government must not only arrest all those involved in the murder, but must try and sentence them to death to pay for their wickedness.

The middle-aged man who wrung his hands in utter amazement asked,” what could have Bridget done to these Hausa people to warrant them cutting off her head in the market place?

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Also Pius Okere, a youth leader in Umudim Odu Village disclosed that for the appeal by the state government to the people to be calm the youths of the village would have revenged the gruesome murder of the late Madam Bridget.

He pointed out that Northerners in the state have never been attacked for any reason by the people of the state, wondering why they should their own in cold blood.

“It is very sad to behead a woman in the market because of religion. We have several Northerners in this community and not even one has been molested. Today is Nkwo Orodo Market, if you go there now you will see so many Hausa people selling in that market and no one has attacked them. But it is not so in the North where the Igbo are always a target of attack in the name of religion.

“Both the Federal Government and the governor of Kano State must ensure that everyone connected with the matter must be arrested and punished. We heard that two people have been arrested, but I don’t think that it was only those people that committed the crime. The question is where were the police when this killing was going on? I’m sure you have seen several police vehicles stationed in the community since that ugly incident in Kano,” the angry youth leader asked.

Also the Paramount Ruler of the Amaukwu Orodo Community, His Royal Highness, Eze Mike Chukwuemeka Amah (Ezeukwu 1of Amaukwu- Orodo), who described the killing as inhuman and barbaric, said that the killing of Mrs Agbaheme was not an issue of the community alone, but for the entire Igbo nation.

He said that the entire people of the community were saddened by the unfortunate incident even as he thanked the Kano State government for the prompt action taken to arrest some of the culprits.

His words: “The barbaric killing of Mrs Bridget Agbaheme did not only affect this community, but affects all Ndigbo in Nigeria. I must tell you we are very sad when we heard what happened and I appealed to our people to be calm and not to take the law into their hands because nobody in the entire community was happy about what happened.

The monarch called on the Kano State government to adequately compensate the bereaved husband for the gruesome killing of his wife.

When Oriental News visited the family house of Agbahemes in Umudim Odu village, it was learnt that the corpse of the late Madam Agbaheme was yet to be brought home for burial.

It was equally learnt that the husband of the deceased, Mr John Agbaheme was yet to contact any of his kinsmen at the village as to when the wife would be burial.

It was also gathered that the Agbahemes who have been living in Kano State for several years have not visited the village for several years now.