Mike OzekhomeRenowned legal Practitioner, Mr Mike Ozekhome (SAN), was on Friday afternoon kidnapped by unknown gunmen in Ehor local government area along the busy Benin-Auchi expressway around 3:30pm in Edo State.Besides, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, (ASP), Police Inspector and two others were killed in a gun duel with the kidnappers.
Ozekhome was said to be returning to Auchi, in Etsako west local government area of the state, his hometown.
The slain police officers met their waterloo while trying to rescue the constitutional lawyer when the dare-devil armed men struck.
The abduction of Mike Ozekhomen (SAN) is the latest wave of crime following series of kidnappings, including primary school teachers and pupils, vice chairman of Uhumwonde local government area and a pharmacist within a space of one week.
Police authority had, on Wednesday last week in Benin, paraded 44 kidnap suspects who abducted three teachers penultimate week and collected huge sum of money before they were freed.
Also the vice chairman of Uhumwonde local government area Walter Aiwekhoe was on Monday, August 19, 2013, kidnapped on his way to work, but later escaped from his abductors at Obiaruko in Delta State.
The recent kidnap of Barrister Ozekhome, is one too many in the Benin metropolis, as almost every week one or two persons are either kidnapped and taken away, a situation that has sent jitters down the spines of every Edo person.
Meanwhile the Inspector General of Police, Muhammed Abubakar, has directed the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Folunso Adebanjo, to fish out the suspects, just as he vowed to ensure that the suspects were brought to justice.
The state commissioner, while confirming the incident, stated “operatives of the command led by DPO Ehor Division responded swiftly to a distress call at about 3:30pm that unspecified number of armed men had blocked the Benin-Auchi Express by Ehor axis.
However, the hoodlums ambushed the patrol vehicle and opened fire on them, prompting an exchange of fire.
“At the end of the gun duel, the hoodlums escaped with bullet wounds, but without their victims who were later identified upon search on his abandoned vehicle as Chief Ozekhome (SAN) and his driver.
“Regrettably, the command lost four officers in the encounter. We salute their rare courage and bravery for they fought and died as heroes for the course of humanity. Their death shall not be in vain. We remain undeterred in our fight against armed banditry,” it stated.
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