In the Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State, the Afokpella community is in mourning following the tragic loss of two of its residents, Oyegwu Afoso and David Agbagie. The pair were reportedly killed by soldiers during a peaceful protest.
The community had organized a demonstration to voice their dissatisfaction with the employment practices of the two cement factories operating in the area. The protest, which began at 6am on Monday, saw community members express their discontent over the fact that many locals employed by the factories were only casual workers. These workers were also losing a portion of their salaries to traditional leaders in nearby communities.
The protest took a turn when demonstrators insisted that residents of neighboring communities join them and prevented them from going to work at the cement factories. This action reportedly provoked members of one of these communities, who were determined to go to work, to call in soldiers, police, and other security officials to disperse the protesters.
Upon arrival, the security forces reportedly opened fire in an attempt to disperse the crowd. While some protesters managed to escape unscathed, others were not so fortunate, sustaining various degrees of injuries from the gunfire.
A protester, who identified himself as Michael, lamented the incident, stating that at least three people were injured during the dispersal. He explained that the protest was for the benefit of the community and expressed disappointment at the violent response despite the peaceful nature of the demonstration. In the aftermath, a vehicle belonging to one of the cement factories was vandalized by aggrieved community members.
Michael recounted, “We were conducting a peaceful protest and we also invited neighboring communities to join us. They participated at first but later withdrew. Suddenly, individuals from one of the neighboring communities arrived with some youths to disrupt the protest and shot three of our boys. So, we quickly stopped the protest. We later heard that some youth from Afokpella saw a bus belonging to one of the cement factories passing by, broke the glass of the vehicle and destroyed it.”
He further explained that the soldiers returned in three vans and started shooting again. During this incident, an innocent man was reportedly shot dead by the soldiers. This man, identified as Afoso, was the brother of another protester, Abanako. Abanako insisted that his brother was not involved in the protest and demanded justice for his death.
Abanako also confirmed that the soldiers allegedly killed another man, Agbagie, and took his body away. They also reportedly apprehended a community member known as Imofin, whose whereabouts have been unknown since Monday.
Afoso’s cousin, Natasha, mourned his death, stating that he was a casual worker at the two cement factories in the community.
She said, “Before he died, he said, ‘Someone pointed at me and the soldiers shot me’. He died at home. My cousin was a jovial person who is easy going. He enjoys life and does not deserve that kind of death. We want justice.”
Attempts to reach the Director, Army Public Relations, Onyema Nwachukwu, were unsuccessful as he did not respond to calls or text messages. Similarly, the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Chidi Nwabuzor, when contacted for a comment on the incident, stated that he had not been briefed about it. He promised to investigate and provide feedback but had not done so at the time of this report.
