Bring My Husband’s Killers To Justice, Wife of Slain Hausa Security Guard Pleads With Delta State Govt

Mrs Maina Hassan, the widow of a slain security guard, Mallam Abu Hassan, has appealed to the Delta State government to ensure that justice is served and the killers of her husband are punished according to the law.

On November 15, 2017, Mallam Hassan, a native of Reazave town, Maiduguri, Borno State, working as a guard at the residence of Dr Ovie Ughwanogho on Hospital Road, Orogun, Ughelli North Local Government area in Delta State, was allegedly murdered on duty by three suspects.

The wife of the deceased, who witnessed the killing, alleged that the suspects were trying to cart away illegally harvested palm fruits from the compound that her late husband guarded and he accosted them. An altercation ensued, she said, and one of the three men retrieved a cutlass file from a bag in their possession and stabbed the deceased on the head, leaving the cutlass file stuck in his head.

Hassan was said to have bled profusely from the head and was rushed to Orogun General Hospital before being transferred to the Delta State University Teaching Hospital (DELSUTH) where he eventually died on August 2, 2018, nine months later after the attack.

She said the men who committed the crime were arrested by the police attached to Orogun Police Station, and thereafter, two of them were released on bail while her husband was in the hospital and remained neurologically incapacitated, even after surgery was performed to remove the metal object until his death.

She disclosed that only one of the suspects, Oduvie Okpowe, was eventually charged to court, while his accomplices, Apinoko Emmanuel and Saturday Ijete, roamed freely till date.

Meanwhile, an Ughelli high court handling the case has set June 15, 2020 as the ruling date on the defendant’s bail application. The widow has, therefore, appealed to the Delta State government to ensure a proper prosecution of the case.

In a petition to Delta Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Peter Mrakpor, the widow alleged that the other two suspects had perpetually subjected her to fear, adding that the suspect under detention should not be granted bail as he posed more risk to the family of the deceased.

In her petition entitled “Passionate Appeal for Proper and Diligent Prosecution in Charge of No: Uhc/28c/2019 between the State and Odovie Okpowe,” she urged the state attorney-general to address some perceived irregularities in the administration of the case.