Woman Whose Husband Was Stabbed In The Head Cries For Justice

-Says Husband Can’t Walk, Talk Or Recognize Anyone
-Alleges That The Culprits Are Walking Free
-Wants Delta Police Commissioner, DSS, Rights Groups, Others To Intervene
-It’s Not Within Our Jurisdiction, Says Delta PPRO

November 15, 2017, is a day Mrs. Maina Hassan will never forget in a hurry as her husband, Mallam Hassan Abu, was allegedly stabbed with the naked butt of a cutlass file on the head by three men in Orogun, Ugheli North Local Government Area of Delta State.

When Mr. Hassan Abu was stabbed before the operation

Mallam Hassan, a security man and native of Reazave Town, Maiduguri, Bornu State, was said to have attempted to resist the three men, Apinoko Emma, Oduvie Okpowe and Saturday Ijete, who carried out the cowardly attack while trying to abscond with harvested Palm fruit from his principal’s compound.
The unfortunate incident took place around 2 pm when the trio came to the entrance of the compound with a palm fruit harvester, Ijete Saturday and after harvesting the Palm fruit without taking permission from the owner of the compound, one Dr. Ovie Ughwanogho or the the security man, an altercation ensued.
During the heated verbal exchange between the victim and the trio, one of them allegedly retrieved a cutlass file from a bag in their possession and stabbed the victim in the head.
In view of the development as Hassan was bleeding profusely from the head, and was at the point of death before he was rushed to Orogun General Hospital and from there to Delta State University Teaching Hospital (DELSUTH), Oghara.
The men, were however, arrested by police officers attached to Orogun police station, thereafter, were said have been released on bail while the victim has been in the hospital till date without improvement even after a surgery was performed to remove the file.
Narrating her ordeal to our correspondent while torrent of tears dropped from her eyes profusely, Maina said : “They came and harvested the palm fruits from my Oga’s compound without taken permission from my husband because my husband, Mallam Abu is the gateman.
” It was our daughter that came to inform us that some persons harvested palm fruit from the entrance of our compound, so my husband and I went outside to meet them and he asked them why will they harvest Palm fruit without taken permission from his Oga and they replied that an Hausa man cannot come and claim right in their land.
” So my husband began to quarrel with the three of them but I told him not to quarrel because of palm fruit and as I was about going inside the compound, one of them shouted at me, telling me to be silent.
” Before I could respond, one of them gave me a dirty slap and I almost fell to the ground if not for the palm tree I held to support myself from falling to the ground with my seven months old pregnancy.
” A brawl now ensued between them and my husband, I tried to separate them but they pushed me to the ground and before I knew it, they overpowered my husband and one of them, Oduvie Okpowe stabbed him with the butt of the cutlass file in the head.
” My husband fell to the ground and blood was gushing out from his head, so I ran into the house and brought rapper to stop the bleeding before he was rushed to the Orogun General Hospital. One of them told the other in Urhobo Language unknown to them I understand Urhobo to go and report at the police station that I have stabbed my husband. Meanwhile, my husband was at the point of death.
” From Orogun General Hospital, he was taken to DELSUTH for treatment. He was then operated on and since then, seven months after the attack, my husband cannot talk, eat, walk and above all, cannot recognize anybody till date.
” Dr. Ovie has spent over N5, 000, 000 and he is still spending. I have four children I am taking care of them alone and his (my husband’s Oga) is the one taken care of the medical bills and our feeding while the three men who carried out the evil attack on my husband are still roaming the street freely. They have never, even for a day come to show some concerns with my family. They have not spent one Naira on his medical bills, in fact; each time they see me, they laugh at me since one of them lives close to us.
“Because of the way the whole thing was going, I suspect a grand conspiracy to cover up the attempted murder of my husband. How can they be moving freely after such evil? So I sent a petition to Zone 5 Benin, Edo State. At the instance of the petition, Emmanuel Apinoko and Ijete Saturday were invited to Zone 5 and somehow they were granted bail without being charged to court.
“My husband is unconscious seven months later, unable to speak, walk or recognize anybody. I want the public to know my pain. I am calling on the Delta State Commissioner of Police, Mustafa Muhammadu, the Department of State Services, human rights organizations and all security agencies to use their good offices to bring the attackers of my husband to justice.”
One of the attackers, Okpovwe Eduvie, in his confessional statement at the police station, said : “I took Saturday, a palm fruit harvester with me to Dr. Ovie Ughwanogho compound and when we got there, he climbed the palm tree and harvested two bunches of palm fruit.

Mrs. Maina Abu and two children, Hauwa and Abdu

“After harvesting it, the man and his wife, Maina Hassan refused to allow me go with the palm fruits, so the wife took one of the bunch into the compound and came back. I wanted to carry the other bunch but she refused and seized me by the shirt and in anger I slapped her before the husband and I started fighting.”
Contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Delta State Police Command, Andrew Aniamaka, described the incident as the height of man’s inhumanity to man.
He, however, said that since the issue was reported to Zone 5, Benin, Edo State, the state command does not have the power to seek for the transfer of the case to its command because Zone 5 is higher than it.
He said: “Zone 5 is higher than Delta State Command, so we cannot request for the transfer of the case to us since it is already been handled there. If the story was reported to the command earlier, we would have addressed it, but now it is beyond the powers of the state command.”

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