Group appeals to govt for help over killing of deaf man in Edo

The Edo Association of the Deaf has appealed to the state government for an employment for the wife of the murdered deaf and dumb man, Efe Ogbeide, to alleviate the burden on the young family he left behind.

The association also urged the state government to provide free education for the children up to university level.

The association made the demands during a protest march to the state council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) on Monday in Benin City.

Addressing journalists, the Chairman of the association, Mr. Eromosele Irabor, said Ogbeide was gunned down by criminally-minded individuals over a land dispute in Obazagbon Community, in Oredo Local Government of the state.

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Irabor said that unknown to the deceased, he had gone to work at a construction site when he was killed.

He said if Ogbeide, who was a deaf, had known of the dispute through sign writing, he would have stayed away from the community.

Irabor said that it was when there was stampede within the site, Ogbeide moved towards his home in another community that he was shot and killed.

He described Ogbeide as a man of peace, who would have stayed out of trouble if he had known there had been land dispute in the community.

He added that the deceased left behind three children, and a widow.

Irabor urged government at all levels to provide sign writing on billboards to help the deaf and dump avoid trouble spots.

According to him, Ogbeide was not a lazy man , he was a person who believed he can feed his family through hard work but his life was cut short by the criminals.

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“A communal clash has been ongoing in Obazagbon for almost 20 years. As a deaf person, I am unaware of this until the gruesome murder of Mr. Efe Ogbeide,” Irabor said.

Chairman of NUJ, Edo council, Comrade Festus Alenkhe, assured the protesters that the media would amplify their voices and that justice would be served.

He advised them to protest peacefully. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Edo Police Command had arrested eight persons in connection with the killing.