BENIN CITY – Police, military and plainclothes security agents have taken over strategic junctions in Uromi, headquarters of Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State where 16 northern travellers were killed by a mob last Thursday.
The security agents were said to have been deployed to stave off reprisals as residents of the area are now worry over repisals
A visit to the area yesterday revealed that the residents are now worried about discussing the issue with strange faces, following the arrest of no fewer than 14 persons who were said to have been picked randomly for being in connection with the incident.
Most people in the area have continued to say that the activities of kidnappers, which have taken over the entire Edo Central senatorial district and borders around Edo North, might have trigerred the action of those involved in the mob action, even though they also agreed that was no justification for them to take laws into their own hands.
FCID takes over investigation
Aside from deployment of policemen, military vehicles were also seen patrolling areas close to the highway and suspected hotspots in the town to monitor movement of people and enforce order.
The reported presence of plainclothes security agents in the town has also created more suspicion towards strange faces.
A commercial motorcyclist, who was having a very good conversation with this reporter, suddenly changed his narrative when asked what he knew about the incident.
He said: “I don’t work here, I work in Ekpoma. I only chose to work here today. I only heard of the incident when I came home.”
Edo State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Moses Yamu, when contacted, said Force Headquarters had taken over the matter but noted that the command has deployed more men to ensure there was no breakdown of law and order.
“The Force Headquarters has taken over the investigation, so it is no longer in our hands. I cannot, therefore, say how far the investigation has gone. But our men are still on ground to ensure that there is no breakdown of law and order.”
As work resumes today, it is not clear whether banks will open fully for commercial activities. Vanguard gathered that many banks carried out skeletal services last Friday, a day after the incident, especially when news filtered in that there could be reprisals.
A banker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “We have to watch as work resumes tomorrow (today) because last Friday, we had to shut our doors against customers early when information came that there could be reprisals.
‘’You know that once such a thing happens, public properties are always targets, so basically some banks just opened skeletally, some didn’t open at all.
“For tomorrow (today), we will still watch the situation and if there is any sign of violence, we will shut down but we will work with the various security agencies to know what is happening.