Fresh pressure has mounted on the Delta State Government following the arrest of the Commissioner for Secondary Education, Dr Kingsley Ashibogwu, and four others over the death of Mr Unity Ekpevbughe Adeda, a Deputy Director in the state Ministry of Secondary Education.
The latest development brings to five the number of persons currently in police custody as investigators intensify efforts to unravel the circumstances surrounding the death of the education official.
The Delta State Police Command, in a statement issued on Monday by its Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, also declared two other persons wanted for questioning in connection with the investigation.
They are Mrs Clemetine Ufuoma, Director of Basic and Secondary Education, and Clement Apia, a driver attached to the Commissioner for Secondary Education.
Edafe said the commissioner was taken into custody alongside three other suspects as part of efforts to establish what transpired before Adeda’s death.
“The Delta State Police Command, in continuation of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr Unity Ekpevbughe Adeda, Deputy Director in the Delta State Ministry of Secondary Education, has taken into custody the Commissioner for Secondary Education, Dr Kingsley Ashibogwu, alongside three other suspects in connection with the case,” he said.
According to the police, Adeda died following an incident at the office of the Commissioner for Secondary Education in Asaba.
The command had earlier arrested one of the commissioner’s aides, Lucky Adoh, while two other aides, Enos Attah and Oputa Okestine, were initially being sought over allegations connected with the incident.
Ashibogwu had previously denied allegations that he ordered the assault of Adeda, maintaining that he did not instruct anyone to beat the deceased.
Meanwhile, the police have urged Ufuoma and Apia to make themselves available to investigators without further delay.
“The Commissioner of Police, Delta State Command, CP Samuel E. Erale, urges the two suspects, wherever they may be, to make themselves available to the Police without further delay,” Edafe stated.
Erale assured the family of the deceased and members of the public that the investigation would be conducted thoroughly, impartially and professionally.
He said due process would be followed and that anyone found culpable would be brought to justice in accordance with the law.
“The investigation will be pursued thoroughly, impartially and professionally,” the police commissioner said.
The command also condoled with the family of Adeda, as investigators continue efforts to establish the circumstances surrounding his death and determine the roles, if any, of those connected with the incident.
The development comes amid growing public attention to the case, with the ongoing police investigation expected to shed more light on what occurred at the commissioner’s office before Adeda’s death.
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