The Department of State Security Service,
Bayelsa State Command, has apprehended six
persons in connection with the brutal killing of
the Administrative Secretary, Bayelsa State
Independent Electoral Commission, Chief Simeon
Akpane.
Akpane was murdered by gunmen on October 10,
2014, in front of his residence at Bethel Church,
off Otitio Road, Yenezue-gene, Yenagoa.
The BYSIEC secretary was murdered in a
circumstance that looked like assassination as
he was shot at a close range by his attackers.
But DSS preliminary investigations showed that
he was not a victim of assassination but a
victim of a gang of armed robbers.
Parading the suspects on Wednesday, the state
Director, DSS, Mr. Laasan Baba, named the
suspects as Freedom Allen, 26; Clarkson Okilo,
27, popularly known as Oyoyo and Abubakar
Ibrahim, 24.
Others are Salisu Haladu, 24; Maharaza Sallau,
20 and Simeon Macaulay, 20.
Baba said on the day of the dastardly act, Allen,
Okilo and one Ebi, popularly known as Omega
who is still at large, conspired to carry out
robbery activities to get money for their personal
needs.
He said the suspects hatched the plot at
Biogbolo Community School between 2pm and
7pm on the fateful day.
He said about 8pm, they boarded a commercial
tricycle known as Keke from their location to
Otiotio Road to find a victim to rob.
He said the suspects confessed that they chose
Otiotio because the area is perceived to be
inhabited by rich persons.
The DSS boss said, “As they walked into Bethel
Church Close, they saw a flashy car driving into
the close and followed the vehicle as they
believed that the occupant must have money on
him.
“As their victim parked in front of his house, they
blocked him, searched and collected his GSM
phone. At this juncture, their victim grabbed
Omega, a member of the gang who was holding
a pistol and began to struggle with him.
“This prompted Allen to collect the locally-made
revolver pistol popularly known as ‘Awka made’
from Omega and shot their victim on the head.
As their victim fell on the ground, they took to
their heels with the victim’s phone.”
Baba said Clarkson, who collected the victim’s
phone, sold it for N5,000 that night at about
9.30pm to Ibrahim at Yenezue-gene, who in turn
sold it for N6,000 to Halladu.
Halladu, according to DSS director, sold the
phone to Sallau, from whom the command
recovered it.
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