Jethro Ibileke/Benin

The Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed DanMallam, on Friday explained why suspected killers of police operatives in Afuze police station are yet to be paraded by the Command.

He gave the explanation at the Command headquarters in Benin, while parading 102 suspected criminals arrested for various crimes.

It would be recalled that four operatives of Afuze Division, including the DPO, a pregnant police sergeant and two others were massacred by the hoodlums at about 8pm on March 12.

The CP said: “On the attack at Afuze on 12 of March, 2019, where some unknown criminals, cowards, who went under the cover of darkness, attacked Afuze Police station, killed the DPO and three others, if you recall during my joint press conference with the Executive Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, we promised the public that we will do everything within the ambit of the law to detect and apprehend the criminals.

“We succeeded in the sense that we have 13 suspects under our custody. The reason why I don’t want to parade them is that, there some we are still looking for, I don’t want do anything that will jeopardize our investigation.

“We made the arrest and they confessed that they participated in the operation where they killed the DPO and his officers,” DanMallam said.

The 102 suspects paraded were arrested from across the State for various crimes ranging from cultism, armed robbery and others.

Among them was an army deserter Private Opiri Stephen, of the 4 Brigade, Nigerian Army, who was arrested for cultism.

Stephen who was posted to fight insurgency in Maiduguri, went AWOL and was arrested at Ekpoma, while celebrating his birthday with other suspected cult members with his army camouflage trousers and vest.

The suspect who hailed from Sabongida Ora, in Owan West local government area of the State, said he joined the army in 2017 and was posted to Maiduguri, but deserted in December, 2018.

“I joined Aiye confraternity in 2016. My bush name is Kokoma. I later joined the military in 2017 and was drafted to Maiduguri, where I was serving till December. Things were happening there. I was scared. That was why I decided to come back home to rest for some time.

“I was celebrating my birthday yesterday (Thursday) at Ekpoma, with my friends when I was arrested,” he said.