Two robbery suspects, still cooling off at the detention centre of the
Department of State Security, Bayelsa State Command, have confessed to the
killing of the Administrative Secretary of Bayelsa State Independent Electoral
Commission, Chief Simeon Akpane.
The suspects, Freedom Allen, 26; Clarkson Okilo, 27, popularly known as
Oyoyo, said they killed the BYSIEC ranking official because they were broke and
had no jobs.
In their revelation, they said they had set out to rob on the fateful
day, October 10, 2014, with nobody in mind, however, Akpane’s flashy Sport
Utility Vehicle seemed to have given him away as a rich man.
The BYSIEC Secretary was murdered by the gun-wielding robbery suspects
in front of his residence at Bethel Church, off Otitio Road, Yenezue-gene,
Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
Allen and Oyoyo were among the six persons paraded by the DSS on
Wednesday in connection with Akpane’s gruesome murder.
Allen, who did not betray any emotion as he gave a chilling account of
the dastardly act, confessed he was the one that killed Akpane.
He said he did so because he was afraid that Akpane, who was shouting
and resisting them during the operation, could expose them to danger.
While admitting to the murder, he said, “On the fateful day, my friend,
Oyoyo, said we should go for an operation. He said he knew somebody who had
about N1.5m that we should go and rob. That man was Chief Akpane. So, we both
went out together.
“We (Oyoyo, Ebi and I) went to the place and saw him and on getting
close to him, Oyoyo and Ebi accosted him, seized him and collected his mobile
handset. The next thing we saw was that he started shouting while he held Ebi
who was with the gun.
“Our thought was that since Ebi was with the gun and the man had held
him, he might shoot any of us. So, I quickly collected the gun from Ebi. I did
not know that Ebi had already corked the gun and in the process of collecting
it, I mistakenly touched the trigger and the gun fired and hit the man. “He
fell down and we had to run away as fear gripped us. Therefore, we could not
accomplish our mission of robbing him. We went in separate directions.”
Narrating the role he played, Oyoyo, who showed great confidence as he
made his confession, said he was very broke and he seriously needed money.
The suspect, who claimed to be a professional driver, said, “On the
fateful day, I didn’t have money, so I went to a place in Biogbolo area to
smoke and take some alcohol. After that, I went to Yenezue-gene. As I was
walking, I heard a voice calling me by the corner. When I turned back, I saw
Allen and Ebi. Allen said they were just standing there, looking for how to get
money.
“For me, that was the kind of story I wanted to hear then because I had
been financially messed around all the while. There was no work. I am a driver
but had no job. Allen told me he had a local pistol and to prove it, he showed
me the pistol.
“Allen said we should use the gun to go and fetch some money. We all
agreed to go, honestly. We boarded a tricycle (Keke) to Biogbolo. On getting
there, we saw a man coming in his flashy Jeep. We believed he should have
money. Honestly, I must confess that before we set out for the operation, we
did not have any place in mind. We were just roving about. Our intention was to
look for people with fine cars to rob and get money, irrespective of who the
person was.”
Oyoyo explained that as they were moving about, they saw the BYSIEC
official even though he claimed they did not know who he was then.
He said, “The now deceased BYSIEC official parked his car and came out.
He was about to enter his house when we accosted him. We pointed the gun at
him. He was holding his mobile phone, which I collected from him.
“To my surprise, he was not willing to obey us and we were still
prevailing on him to cooperate. Before we knew it, Allen came from the back and
dragged the gun from Ebi’s hand and without wasting time, he pulled the trigger
and shot the man. I was outraged and I asked him why he shot the man. I guess
Allen didn’t know what he did because he had been smoking and had stuffed his
brain with too much alcohol. At that point, fear consumed us and we took to our
heels. Thereafter, we boarded a tricycle and alighted at PDP Junction.”
Oyoyo, who said he had the man’s telephone with him, said he had to sell
it to get some money.
He claimed to have sold the expensive telephone for N5,000 to one
Ibrahim at Yenezue-gene, who in turn sold it for N6,000 to one Halladu.
Parading the suspects at the DSS Command during the week, the state
Director, DSS, Mr. Laasan Baba, named the suspects as Freedom Allen, 26;
Clarkson Okilo, 27, popularly known as Oyoyo and Abubakar Ibrahim, 24; Salisu
Haladu, 24; Maharaza Sallau, 20 and Simeon Macaulay, 20.
Baba said further investigation led to the apprehension of Simeon
Macaulay, whom he said had been in the business of buying and selling stolen
GSM handsets.
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