Salome: 2 years after, I lost a wife, remain an IDP, Elder Abuh

Two years after Hon. Mrs Salome Acheju Abuh was burnt alive by thugs loyal to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in her matrimonial home at Ochadamu in Ofu Local Government Area in Kogi East Senatorial District, pain and anguish of her unfortunate death continue to permeates.

Husband of the late Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) women leader in Kogi, Elder Simeon Babani Abuh at the two years memorial service lamented that he has lost everything, which has rendered him and his children as internally displaced persons.

The distraught widower at the event which held in Abuja on Thursday to mark two years that his wife was burnt alive said, he couldn’t raise funds to rebuilt the family house that was burnt by thugs, while he appealed to good spirited citizens to come to his rescue.

He condemned the mediocrity and high level of conspiracy that trailed the judgement of pepertrators of the heinous act, stressing that justice has not been served in the circumstances.

Abuh queried the manner with which the Nigeria police handled the whole process leading to some pepertrators of the distardly act walking free on streets.

He said: “The story has been in the public domain, therefore, there may be no need to over state why and how it happened. Her offence being that, this iron lady, a grassroot politician, mobilise and community leader of a repute, delivered the Local Government Area, Ofu, to her party, PDP in a well fortified APC Local Government.

“I wish to put on record again, that the actions by these unmasked/known boys were premeditated on Saturday, 16th November, 2019 when those boys got the winds of how the elections were going , and carried out on Monday 18th November, 2019, a day after her 60th birthday, when she was resting in our family house.”

Elder Abuh wondered on the selective trial of culprits, noting that it.wqs an organized crime which wasn’t carried out by a single person as Court and Police would want Nigerians to believe.

Added, he said, in a crime that a woman was burnt alive, a house belonging to her and several others razed, was obvious that it wasn’t only the convicted one, Ocholi Edicha by the Court that carried out the heinous acts, but many others too, who are well known to the people in the community.

He. said: “The Court judgement delivered at the high Court of Justice, Idaho, Kogi State on 23rd March, 2021, where only one person, Ocholi Edicha was arraigned, tried and found guilty of all five count charges with regard to the burnt alive of my wife and burning down of our four fully furnished houses including looted and burnt down of some of our PDP stakeholders houses in the community, for which he is to serve twelve and half years jail term, has also been in the public domain.”

In an emotion laden speech, Abuh posed several questions which suggested Police’s compromise in the trial processes, saying: “Is it possible for one person to commit such magnitude of destructions of life and properties in our compound and other PDP stakeholders houses in the community within such a few hours?

“Kogi State Police Command paraded six boys, including Ocholi Edicha who were said to have confessed to the crime. Surprisingly, five were charged for armed robbery and only Ocholi Edicha became the murderer and arsonist. Police is our friend, Police is their friend.

“Why were others named not arrested and prosecuted? Police is our fried… The Court is not father Christmas. The Court acted according to the information from our friends, ‘the Nigerian Police’, perhaps.