On Tuesday, civil society organisations protested and decried the gruesome murder of a physically challenged man in the Obazagbon community, Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State.
The victim, who is deaf, identified as Efe Ogbeide, was said to have been murdered at a project site by invading gunmen.
The community is said to be embroiled in a violent leadership crisis, leading to the destruction of property and loss of lives.
Speaking on behalf of the aggrieved protesters, the Executive Director of the Network for the Advancement of People with Visible Disability, Omasah Melody, said the victim was deaf and could not hear when the alarm of the invaders was raised.
He added, “While others ran away, but because he could not hear, he fell in the hands of his murderers.”
According to him, “we are pained. We are touched because Betty has lost a very dear husband. His children have been made fatherless.
“Ogbeide’s crime was that he went around to fend for himself and his family in spite of his disability so that he will not be a liability to the society.
“It was in the quest of struggling to put food on the table of his family that death met him absolutely.
“The frequency of communal clashes over land and its related issues is becoming one too many. It has to stop. Security agents must rise to the occasion.
“When there are crisis in community, the physically challenged suffer more. People with disabilities are worse hit.”
Reacting to the development, the Edo State Police Public Relations Officer, Moses Yamu, said three suspects have been arrested over the mayhem in Obazagbon community, adding that investigation is still ongoing.
