From Henry Ibya, Makurdi
Ikpanor Agege Shar Family of Mbaduku in Vandeikya Local Government Area of Benue State have urged the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Kayode Egbetekun, to ensure full and transparent investigation into the gruesome stoning to death of their brother, Ternenge Ikpanor, last Friday in Obudu, Cross River State.
The family at a media briefing yesterday in Makurdi, addressed by Dr Terdoo Ikpanor, described as painful, shocking and outrageous, the gruesome murder of Ternenge, a Tiv commercial driver from Mbanyam, Mbaduku.
The said Ikpanor was transporting goods and passengers to Cross River when he fell victim to mob violence, which the family alleged was based on a fight and misunderstanding that broke out between Mbazerem people of Mbaduku and Abonkip people of Obudu, a distance far away from the scene of the murder.
According to Dr Ikpanor, this barbaric act has left the victim’s family, his community and indeed all peace-loving Nigerians in an indescribable state of grief, describing the tragedy as not just for the family and Tiv nation, but also a national stain on our shared humanity and justice system.
He insisted that the act must not be swept under the carpet.
While commending the IGP for his directive for the arrest of the perpetrators, the family appealed to relevant agencies to ensure that all the perpetrators and collaborators are identified and brought to justice, as well as deploy measures that would facilitate the release of the deceased’s body to the family for burial.
The family also urged the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, to launch an independent inquiry into the circumstances that led to the death of the victim, provide legal and psychological support to the victim’s family comprising his wife and three children, warning that failure to act at this defining moment of history would risk normalising extrajudicial killings and ethnic violence.
Ikpanor, who said the Tivs are peace-loving and hard-working people, noted that no community would however fold its hands and watch its sons and daughters die in silence.
