Olayinka Ilori/
The police in Edo State have confirmed the killing of a university lecturer who tried to escape when his bus was ambushed by kidnappers on Benin-Ore Road yesterday.
Edo State commissioner of police, Mr Mohammed DanMallam, today confirmed the killing of Kelvin Izevbekhai, a lecturer at the Igbinedion University, Okada, near Benin, by suspected kidnappers.
NewsmakersNG broke the story yesterday shortly after the bandits hijacked the bus marked AGB 294 YV belonging to ‘God is Good Motors’.
A relative of one of the victims, Mr Asukwo Etim Bassey, told NewsmakersNG that the bus took off from Ajah, in Lagos, heading for Uyo, in Akwa Ibom State, yesterday morning.
NewsmakersNG learnt that when the bandits started shooting sporadically, four passengers, including Izevbekhai and the bus driver made an escape bid into the bush.
Bullets from the kidnappers, however, stopped the university lecturer in his bid.
DanMallam said Izevbekhai was killed in an attempted escape bid when the victims were being marched into the forest by the kidnappers.
The gunmen struck near Okada junction along the Benin-Ore highway.
The CP said, “The driver of the minibus was said to have fled into the bush along with four other passengers.
“Unfortunately, one of the passengers who tried to escape during the abduction was killed by the gunmen.
“The police went after the kidnappers in the bush and succeeded in rescuing the victims.”
He added that the police were working on a new strategy which entailed taking the war to the kidnappers’ den in the jungle, adding that it is the best way to tackle the scourge.
A spokesman for the university, Mr Jide Ilugbo, who also confirmed the killing described it as “barbaric”.
Ilugbo said that the late Izevbekhai was a First Class graduate and was employed in the university in 2016.
He said it was now dangerous to travel on the Benin-Lagos highway due to frequent attacks by armed robbers and kidnappers.
The official said it was unfortunate he ran into hoodlums, adding that the trailer parked before Okada junction was a hideout for criminals.
Meanwhile, Bassey, a notable newspaper cartoonist, whose niece, Margaret, was among seven other victims later released by the kidnappers took to Facebook today thanking God.
