Tears, Sorrow As Idahosa Killed On Election Day Is Buried

There was a lot of tears, wailing and unforgettable pains on Saturday, in the family of a 33 -year-old graduate who was shot dead by unknown political thugs during the February 25, 2023 presidential and National Assembly Elections in Edo State, as his remains were committed to mother earth in Benin City.
The deceased, identified as Festus Idahosa, who was killed alongside three others when some political thugs attacked a polling unit at Ogheghe in Oredo Local Government Area, where he went to cast his votes.
The family members who gathered to bury their son amidst tears and pain, said the graduate was an entrepreneur who had concluded arrangements to pursue a master’s degree in the UK before his untimely death.
Speaking shortly after laying the deceased to rest, his Uncle, Kenneth Aigbe, said Festus left his residence at Nomayo, Upper Sakpoba area to Ogheghe at ward 5, unit 9, where his voting center was located.
Kenneth Aigbe said he was shocked when he received a call that Festus had been shot dead.
“I was called at about 8pm that he was shot to death where he went to exercise his national franchise. That was the last I heard from him when he left to cast his votes at Ogheghe Ward 5, Unit 9. Since that day, I have not been myself and it has been a very terrible experience,” he narrated.
Kenneth Aigbe appealed to the security agencies and the Federal Government to unravel the killers using every investigative tool.
David Jaja, the deceased’s friend and his Elder Sister, Eunice Imatitikua, described his death as sad and hard to believe.
While lauding his patriotic tendency for leaving his abode in Port Harcourt for the trip home for the civic duty for which his life was terminated by the suspected hoodlums, the duo said Festus died a hero.
The deceased graduate of Metallurgical Engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, left his base in Port Harcourt, Rivers State to vote in his hometown.
A stray bullet was said to have hit Idahosa who hailed from Egbokor Community in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State, and a mother of two, Elizabeth Owie who they reportedly died on the spot, while one other victim died on the way to the hospital.
Another man who was shot in the head from the same attack, is still battling for survival at an undisclosed hospital in Benin City.
At Eresonyen Primary School at Uhuogua Community, Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State, some unknown gunmen also invaded the voting center and carted away election materials.
The gunmen suspected to be political thugs invaded the center on Saturday with an unnumbered black Audi Car between 10 and 11: am when voting had commenced and carted away some of the thumb-printed booklets
It was noted that, the voters who saw the danger coming, made attempts to scamper for their safety and in the course of the ensuing stampede many ended up with varying degrees of injuries.
One of the caregivers at the IDP, Pastor Evelyn Omigie who gave account of the incident, said the Eresonyen Primary School is part of Iguoshodi ward, Units 11 and 17 was where voters from the Internally Displaced Persons Camps, IDPs, and other inhabitants of Uhuogua community cast their votes.
Pastor Omigie, said the gunmen numbering about four, shot into the air to scare voters, disrupting the peaceful conduct of the elections in the Uhuogua community.