The family of Sunday Ezra, a 28-year-old security man at New Trafford
Hotel and Suites, located at the Gwallameji area of Bauchi metropolis,
who was beaten to death over a phone he was accused of stealing, have
demanded justice.
The late Ezra was a staff of a private security company known as
Executive Guard. He was reportedly wrongly beaten to death last Monday
by persons suspected to be his co-workers and some customers in the
hotel. The incident took place when an old mobile phone got missing
within the premises of the hotel and the deceased was suspected to have
stolen it. But he vehemently pleaded his innocence, to no avail. They
descended on him and beat him until he became unconscious.
The deceased’s grandmother, Saratu Fidelis Limga, told Daily Trust
Saturday that the family was devastated and only justice would comfort
them.
“We want the government to take action. We demand justice for our son who was unjustly killed.
“You know how it feels to lose a loved one. I feel very bad. I could not
sleep on Monday because the condition I saw him was sympathetic. I
learnt that the owner of the hotel was the first person that started
beating him and subsequently ordered his boys to deal with him. This is
inhuman. They said it was a small tecno phone that does not worth more
than N1,000,’’ she said.
She described her grandson as very honest, trustworthy and jovial.
Also speaking, Ezra’s grandfather, Fidelis Limga, said he couldn’t
believe that his grandson was dead. “What we want is justice for my
grandson. It was after he was killed that someone returned the phone,
saying my grandson didn’t steal it. I want the police to do their job as
expected and ensure that justice prevails over those who committed this
crime,’’ he said.
A relative of the deceased, Nathaniel Kiki, who was the first from the
family to visit the scene of the incident, told Daily Trust on Sunday
that after beating him, his assailants covered his body with grass while
he was still alive. They also stripped him naked.
“When I arrived at the hotel with our grandmother, we saw him on the
floor, covered with grasses. There was no cloth on his body. I removed
the grasses and called him and he answered. I asked if he stole the
phone and he answered, “I have never stolen anything from anyone. You
know me very well. What am I going to do with a stolen phone? He asked
me to take him to the hospital because of the pains he was going
through?’’ Kiki said.
“What is more painful to us is that after the wicked attack, a corps
member found the said phone and returned it to the police. And the phone
is not up to N1,000,’’ he added.
Also, the manager of Bauchi office of Executive Guard, Musa Silas, said
the deceased joined the services of the security company a month ago,
adding that one of their criteria for employment is that the applicant
must be have proven integrity.
“We depend on personal information and findings within the environment
of the applicant before employment. During our findings, as well as
relationship with the deceased, we discovered that he was a good young
man. He was also a member of the vigilante group in his community, which
encouraged us to offer him our job since he had experience in
maintaining peace and order.
“I feel very sad at what happened to him because I was part of the
people that took him to the hospital. I saw the extent of brutality
meted out to him. It is very unfortunate that we lost a hard-working
young man,’’ Silas said.
A friend of the deceased, who is also a security man at the Lutheran
Church of Christ (LCC), Yelwa, Yohana John, said Ezra was a very
religious and honest person who didn’t even argue or fight with anybody.
‘Sometimes, out of trust I would leave my duty post for him, and
nothing ever happened or got lost in my absence. There’s no history of
immorality, theft or drug abuse concerning my friend. He wouldn’t have
stolen any mobile phone. Many people will miss him, especially friends
and colleagues,’’ John said.
When contacted, the police public relations officer, Bauchi State
command, DSP Ahmed Mohammed Wakil, confirmed the incident, saying five
suspects had been arrested in connection with the incident. He added
that investigation into the incident had commenced.
He said the case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
Efforts to speak with the late Ezra’s co-workers at New Tripod Hotel
were not successful because the hotel was under lock and key.
