There was pandemonium yesterday at the premises of Evbuoriaria Magistrate Court, Benin City, Edo State where soldiers forcefully released four suspects who were billed to face trial for traffic offences.
The suspects are Edna
Oriakogba (driver), Paulinus Ekwugwu, Eddy Inogie and Okwolise Lucky.
Earlier, the suspects
were taken to War Against Indiscipline (WAI) office located within the
premises of the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Tourism by the officers, who had
earlier impounded a Mitsubishi car, BEN 451 FH driven by the suspected
offenders for an alleged traffic offence committed at the Airport Road in Benin.
At the WAI office, seven
soldiers were said to have allegedly created a scene as they stormed the place,
shot into the air before beating up a staff of the agency.
Not done, the soldiers
later moved to the Evbuoriaria Magistrate Court where the suspects were to be
arraigned because they could not secure their release at the WAI office.
The soldiers stormed the
court premises in a Toyota Hilux vehicle while the WAI officers were waiting
for the case to be assigned and transferred the suspects from the WAI vehicle
into the Toyota.
Their action caused
panic, as many people who were within the court premises including the staff,
fled into safety.
In his reaction, the
Chief Magistrate, who was in court, described the action of the soldiers as
shameful and ordered that a petition be written against them.
The state Chairman of
WAI, David Olukoga, alleged that the soldiers, who carried out the action, were
attached to a construction company in Benin.
He said they acted on the
order of an expatriate, who works for the company.
-DailyPost
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