Man Rapes Aunt, Kills 80yr Old Grandfather

A young man in Ekpoma, the headquarters of Esan West local government
area of Edo State, allegedly raped his aunt, and killed his
grandfather for daring to report the incident to the police.

Osagie allegedly committed the murder after being arraigned in court
for rape and granted bail.

Another of the suspected assailant's aunt, Maria, said her nephew was
infuriated that the 80-year-old man, Pa Asemienwalen, informed the
police about the rape  incident, leading to his arrest and
prosecution.Osagie will be an ungrateful grandson if proved that he
killed his grandfather as the old man was said to have raised him
after his son who bore Osagie died.

Maria, the aunt and a  500-level student of Ambrose Alli Unviersity,
Ekpoma, who spoke to us, said she had to relocate to Benin-City
following threat to her life by the suspect's associate after his
arrest for the murder and transfer to Benin city for further
investigations.

Narrating the story, she, tearfully, said about two months to her
father's murder, the grandson became a terror to the family while all
advice from the old man to mend his bad ways fell on deaf ears.

"About  months to my father's death, he, Osagie, burgled the house and
removed my father's valuables  and money. As a result, we stopped
leaving valuables, money and telephone handsets in the house," the
aunt alleged.

"As if this was not enough, when he learnt that my junior sister,
Juliet, left her telephone handset in the farm, and was on her way to
retrieve  it, he secretly followed her and raped her after beating
her. Unable to bear this abomination, my father reported the incident
to the police at Ekpoma who arrested him and charged the matter to
court after  investigations.

"He was granted bail by the magistrate court at Ekpoma and the matter
was adjourned to 30  May, 2013 for hearing. Once he was out of
custody, Osagie vowed that my father will pay with his life for
reporting the case to the police. My father  reported the threat to
his life to the police at Ekpoma and begged them to protect him.

"However, when the case came up for hearing on 30 May, the court did
not sit and, on  1  June, Osagie struck in the early hours of that
day, woke my father up, strangled him and escaped before help could
come".

Maria appealed to the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Funsho
Adebanjo, to ensure that justice was done, saying some of Osagie's
sympathisers had been boasting that nothing will come out of the case.
She said that she was afraid of going back to Ekpoma to continue with
her studies as she continued to receive death threats on her telephone
from the suspect's associates.

Counsel to the Asemienwalen family and human rights lawyer, Benjy
Iluobe, while calling for the alleged murder case to be charged to
court, said he was monitoring the investigations by the police.

Osagie, who has since been re-arrested by the police in Ekpoma, was
said to be  cooling off at the State Investigations Department of the
Edo State Police Command. The state Police Public Relations Officer,
Mr. Moses Eguaveon, said the police had stepped  up investigations
into the matter and the investigations, once completed, the suspected
would be charged to court.