Why We Don’t Seize but Demolish Properties of Suspected Kidnappers, Ritualists – Ohonbamu

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The Edo State government has shed light on why it demolished the property of one Martins Oghenewore whose 28-year-old son was linked to alleged kidnapping and organ harvesting despite reporting his activities to the police.

The government also defended why it opted for demolition of properties linked to kidnapping, cult-related and ritual killings instead of just seizing them, and why demolitions are carried out without convictions by a court of competent jurisdiction.

Oghenewore, whose plight had attracted sympathy from some members of the public, had told journalists at the scene of demolition off Sapele Road in Benin City in April, that the suspect, a graduate of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, had long exhibited “troubling behaviour”, and had been a problem to him for over a decade. He said he had taken him to rehabilitation, neuropsychiatric centres, and even traditional healers.

While disclosing that “he rarely slept at home, drank excessively and was often missing, the distraught father lamented that “Now, he has destroyed everything I worked for. This house was my retirement plan, and now I’m watching it being torn down. It’s heartbreaking”.

In a statement by the chief press secretary to the governor, Fred Itua, Oghenewore narrated that on April 23 when he was returning home, “my wife called to inform me that our son had murdered a woman in his quarters. I immediately reported to the police who followed me home and helped convey the corpse to the mortuary. I’ve been in police custody since then”.

But justifying the action of government, the state commissioner for communication and orientation, Paul Ohonbamu, in a media parley on Tuesday, noted that he reported his son on ground of insanity and not the crime committed.

According to Ohonbamu, a lawyer, “He said the son had been misbehaving. A lawyer called me immediately before that demolition, one Barrister Asenoghuan Ede. He said this boy had been misbehaving, the father knows that, and all that. But later, when the lawyer saw the dastardly act when they entered, he saw the girl who was there;, they’ve removed all they wanted to remove. I now called the lawyer. He withdrew.

“What do you call that? Your insanity will push you to do that, and you took all the things you wanted to go and sell. They caught him. I don’t know if you get that. In this case, you don’t allow it to fester.
“Even your insane state told you that there’s money in this, if you sell, and you now dismembered the person, took things out before they arrested him. That man, I’m sorry, maybe he will go to court, but there is confirmation already. You now say he’s insane, he has been misbehaving, you reported to the police. But you did not report to the police that there is a dead girl in your house. That this boy is so bad that he even brought a girl. I discovered that that girl is dead there now. Some parts, maybe people came when the boy left to take parts from the body.

“You didn’t do that. You only reported the misconduct of the boy, how he has been misbehaving. These things don’t add up”.
On demolition without court orders, the commissioner explained that “if you look at the law properly, there’s distinction between confirmation and conviction. The law says upon confirmation that the person is linked to the offence that he’s a kidnapper, or he’s a cultist, then his property will be confiscated or demolished.

“And upon conviction, then those sentences. He would be sentenced to 21 years, 10 years; when fatality arises therefrom, then death. Thin line between confirmation and conviction. And most times, it is not the governor or the state that confirms. They themselves say yes, I am; this is my property. When you go there, you see all sorts of devilish things. They now saw a woman’s dismembered body. That is it.

“We cannot wait in such situation for a court to convict first because it says upon confirmation. We are not imposing it on the person. The person says, yes, he will confess to the offence. Of course, most of those properties could be linked to proceeds from the offence. What do you do? No tangible thing, but you have an edifice.

“Some people told me the government can just seize it and use it for… No. In law, you say you don’t derive benefits from the estate of your victim. It will serve greater purposes. Even people admitting tenants into their homes, they are now careful because before now, anyone with big money, you don’t care, provided he pays you that money, then he goes into your house. But you now ask questions because he can commit crime, and he’s staying in your house, and the house can go for it because you ought to know the kind of person you put in your house.”

Ohonbamu hinted at the possibility of amending the law, stating that “for the law, this is why I was talking about mischief rule. Maybe they need to amend now to say upon conviction because they say upon confirmation”.

And to address frontally the rising cases of kidnapping and attacks by killer herdsmen across the state, the former member of the House of Representatives said the Governor Monday Okpebholo administration was overhauling the local vigilante known as the Edo State Security Corps (ESSC) to reposition it to tackle the security challenges in order to make the state conducive for investors.
He said “On the issue of herdsmen, it is part of the training they are going through now under those retired military officers. Once these ones are out, you will see a brand-new Edo State Security Corps which is to check kidnapping because from the point of entry, they will be stationed.”

On why the efforts in the state were not being felt unlike what groups like Amotekun is doing in the South-West, the Commissioner said “The reason the system in the South Western states is working is because there is synergy and that is what you will get now. But I praise our governor for his boldness. You see governors lamenting, come to our aid, come to our aid, but the governor is taking bold steps while others are complaining. He heard from the police, he bought brand new Hilux vans, 100 in number, and gave to them and the other security operatives.

“He bought 1000 power bikes for people to comb the bushes; he ensured that there was arms mop-up. They collected illegal arms from people, about 5000 recovered. He has put things in place that will make them work effectively.

“The police need to also wake up and put on the confident badge of sovereignty to say, this is Nigerian Police Force, and we must stop what is happening, especially when you have a governor that is ready to support their operations.

“Before now, you saw that the vigilante, the Edo State Security Corps, was headed by different people in different cults, but this governor said no, it must be Ibadin and even Ibadin is not there now. Those who are arranging this present one, they are all retired very senior military officers. So, we all know what the man wants; he wants decency in the society.

“He is planning to turn the place into a portable paradise, bringing investors. And when you now see some negatives that will dissuade people from coming, no, he does not want it, and he has told the people so.”

Ohonbamu regretted that despite boasting of his achievements, education under former Governor Godwin Obaseki was a failure. Asked about the level of performance of students in the West African School Certificate, WAEC, examination and the National Examination Council, NECO, the commissioner responded pointedly, “They failed woefully. That’s why we are turning everything around again. The governor has said that they must rejig the whole thing… They don’t pass exams. You cannot travel on the devil’s expressway and arrive at God’s destination. They cannot pass exam like that”.