By Austin Ogwuda
… nearly 1 year after Ada Anioma’s kidnap, Police yet to tell the public the fate of the arrested suspects
. ..who authorised the release of Mrs Shimite Bello’s corpse for burial without autopsy report?
Since obituary poster announcing the burial obsequies of the Special Adviser to the Delta State Governor on Trade and Export, Mrs. Shimite Bello Love surfaced early this month, the Delta State Police command has remained silent without a word concerning the outcome of the autopsy report.
The continued silence has thrown the public into confusion as to whether the police has closed its investigation without making the autopsy report public which is central in the determination of the cause of her death.
Also, has the husband of the woman under police protective custody according to the Delta State police command’s image maker, Bright Edafe, a Superintendent of Police SP been asked to go home?
Is he now at peace with the woman’s family members who were threatening him? These and more questions still remain in the realm of speculation without clarity from the police who launched investigation into the matter.
The question now is can the interment take place without tagging the autopsy report since it is under police investigation or did Police quietly tell the family the result in secret and endorsed the burial plan?
According to the Obituary poster, her remains would be interred on the 27th of June at Ebu, Oshimili North local government area of Delta State, Nigeria.
The poster which was signed by three persons did not indicate whether they were signing on behalf of the family or not but merely dropped their first names.
The last time the Delta State Police Command’s Spokesman, Bright Edafe a Superintendent of Police SP, commented on the matter, he said, “We are currently investigating. In situations like this, only an autopsy can determine whether the death was natural or due to other causes”.
Since after that comment, he has not released any other official statement even when The Townhall requested repeatedly for the follow up, he didn’t respond.
Recall that Chief (Mrs) Bello died at about 3.30 a.m. last Easter Monday at St Luke’s Hospital Asaba where she was rushed to which triggered public concern and widespread allegations, particularly on the social media.
Investigation into the kidnap of Ada Anioma still in the limbo
On that fateful Tuesday, 30th of July 2024,
Hon Joan Onyemaechi popularly known as Ada Anioma was abducted from the King Jesus and I Church in Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria, where she is the General Overseer.
The news which spread like wild fire shook the State while tongues wagged as – to whether the kidnap was politically motivated – was it for ransom among other various postulations given the ‘controversial’ nature of the woman who represented Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency in the Federal House of Representatives in 2015.
She is a prominent political figure in Delta North, former Commissioner for Technical Education before her resignation earlier this year to pave way for her younger brother, the incumbent Council Chairman in Aniocha South to return for a second term following complaints and protests over alleged hijacking of political offices by the Onyemaechi’s family within that zone.
After the kidnap, news started flying to the extent that she was reported to have been killed by her abductors.
But after agonising 11 days captivity, she was eventually released.
It was then the Police broke silence.
Apart from the confirmation that she was whisked away through the waterway and released in the neighbouring Bayelsa State, some suspects were arrested in connection with her abduction and killing of her driver and Police man attached to her.
Hear the Commissioner of Police, Delta Command, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda:
“She was released by her abductors because there was too much pressure from the security personnel. It was well planned. They had a getaway vehicle waiting, getaway boat waiting and they know the location of the security and did everything to avoid the security points within the state.
“A good number of the kidnappers have been arrested, while the Police are on the trail of others who are currently on the run. We got wrong information and our assessment was that they will follow the usual way to the bush but they carried out their operations in a hurry, left through the waterside and burnt their vehicle”.
The CP however declined to give the exact number of suspects arrested in connection with the kidnap but said he would give “the number, their identities and the level of their involvement at an appropriate time, saying doing so now may jeopardise ongoing investigations.
“A criminal is criminal. We are on top of the situation so long as there is breach of the law and you are able to arrest, prosecute and bring them to justice, it means others will learn a lesson”.
These were the words of the Delta CP, yet nothing has been heard nearly one year after the incident.
Could it be that the “appropriate time” has not come?
