A member of a vigilante group securing Obadolovbiyeyi community in the Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State was shot dead by soldiers in what military authorities called a case of mistaken identity.
It was gathered that a local vigilance group had in the early hours of Wednesday arrested
suspected herdsmen for alleged armed robbery on the Benin-Abraka Expressway.
Efe Igbinovia was watching over the suspects while his colleagues combed the bush for the fleeing members of the gang when a company of soldiers in a Homda marked AP 641 KTN stormed the area and fired sporadically.
Efe was shot dead in the process.
Angry youth would later blocked a commercial bus conveying two of the herdsmen earlier arrested to the Benin Central Hospital for medical treatment before the intervention of personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Johnson Kokumo, confirmed the incident.
“The herdsmen were alleged to have blocked the expressway. Two of them (suspects) are with the police undergoing interrogation,” said Kokumo.
On the alleged killing of the vigilante by the military men, Kokumo said, “It is an allegation we are investigating. Actually, one of the vigilance members died in the course of duty.”
The spokesperson for the 4 Brigade Command of the Nigerian Army, Capt. Mohammed Maidawa, said Igbinovia was shot after he was mistaken for a robber by military troops deployed in the area.
“Troops deployed in Ologbo for pipeline protection received information of a suspected armed robbery close to their location. They were mobilised to the scene and engaged armed men at the scene,” said Maidawa.
“Unfortunately, one person, who was later identified as a vigilante, was killed. Preliminary investigation revealed that the vigilance group also responded to a distress call on the robbery. It was a case of mistaken identity. We are going to get in touch with the bereaved family.”