According to Juchei, the gunmen disguised as fun seekers before they opened fire on the unsuspecting policemen. The woman said she returned to the zoo after an outing to discover the policemen’s bodies.
She said: “When I came back about 6p.m., I met three policemen lying dead on the ground. I was shocked. I saw people running for safety. Our boss had been kidnapped and taken away. It was those we met at the scene that told us what happened.”
Juchei added that one of the kidnappers paid to enter the zoo with a torn naira note, which was rejected by the cashier at the gate. When the money was rejected, the kidnapper went to get another note.
She said: “When the informants had studied the terrain, one of them decided to engage our director with conversation. Our boss started telling him his plans to put up a ‘World Tourism Day.’ One of them went straight to the security personnel and asked them if they had not close for the day. He ordered for drinks for the officers, who were guards at the zoo.
This was what those who were there told us. They bought Heinekens and as the policemen lay down their guns to drink, the men opened fire on them.” Another worker, Mr. Zontondji Emmanuel, said that the gunmen shot at the police officers without sparing any of them.
He said: “I resumed about 5.30p.m. As I came in, I went round to inspect the animals and the visitors on ground. I came back to the reception where the Executive Director was sitting down, with the men. There were two policemen sitting with him. So, I went outside. “Outside, I saw an Audi 80 car parked.
Suddenly, I saw three men coming out with guns. One of them was wearing a bullet proof vest. I thought they were normal policemen, who usually come to the zoo for normal security reasons. Suddenly, I saw them running into the zoo premises, which was very unusual.
When they entered, they started shooting immediately. All of us outside started running into safety. I called on people running to give us police numbers; nobody was ready to stop because they were all afraid. “But at the time, I watched from afar and I saw that the men were going out with my director. They went into the Audi car and zoomed off. I later saw the three policemen who were supposed to be guarding the director lying dead on the ground. After that, the DPO came to take the bodies away. Everything happened about 5.40p.m.”
Meanwhile, the police yesterday said they were working round the clock to arrest the killers of the policemen and abductors of Ehanire. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Moses Nkombe, said: “Our men are working on that, although we have not made any arrest.”
Ehanire, who is the younger brother to the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, was kidnapped on Sunday evening by heavily armed men. The state Commissioner of Police, Haliru Gwandu, yesterday disclosed that killers of the three cops and abductors of Ehanire were militants.
Gwandu spoke when he visited the zoo on Airport Road in Oredo Local Government Area.The commissioner described the ugly incident as unfortunate, saying that all hands were on deck to catch the perpetrators.
He said: “We lost three of our personnel. These are the activities of the militants. They came and unfortunately killed our policemen, but we are on the trail of the hoodlums. We were able to recover the vehicles used for the operation. We are using all available means, including the high tech, to fish out the perpetrators.
They cannot go scot free. Let me assure the general public in Edo State that we’re on top of the situation and that they should go about their normal duty. All hands are on deck to ensure that the hoodlums are fished out.”
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