Tragedy struck at Afaha Market in
Ibesikpo/Asuntan Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State on Tuesday when a
trader was strangled after being raped by suspected hoodlums. It was learnt
that the woman from Ogoja, Cross River State, had gone to the
weekly Afaha market when the incident occurred at night. The woman, popularly
called ‘Mama Oliver’, was said to have gone outside the house to urinate when four-man
hoodlums swooped on her and took turns to rape her.
The hoodlums thereafter strangled
her for fear that she might recognise one or two them. An eyewitness, said,
“Mama Oliver said she was going to urinate. It was in the process that the
hoodlums seized her. They had bouts of sex with her. “It was believed that they
strangled her because she could identify
some of the criminals. They feared that she might expose them if they let her
go.” A friend of the deceased , Mrs. Eno Edet, told our correspondent that the
death of Mama Oliver was shocking. Pointing to Mama Oliver’s space in the
market, Edet said, “I would never assume that anyone could be so callous as to
kill an innocent woman just because of sex. “We have refused to sell things.
The death of Mama Oliver is painful. She and her other sisters usually come
from Ogoja on Afaha Market days. “You can see her space in the market with her
wares. We are really sad.”
Another trader, Mr. Ekong Okon, said
what happened in Afaha Market on Tuesday could be attributed to darkness. He
said, “Where the women slept was not far from where Mama Oliver went to urinate.
If there was light, we would have seen the men. “I think Mama Oliver knew some
of these men. This could be the reason why they killed her. I still believe
that if the place had been properly illuminated, the sad incident would have been
averted.” When wewent to the market , the deceased’s corpse had already been
taken to a mortuary in Ibesikpo/Asutan LGA. All attempts to speak with Mama
Oliver’s sisters were unsuccessful . One of them was said to have left for
Ogoja while the whereabouts of the second were not known. The state Command’s
spokesperson, Mr. Etim, didnt responded to text messages sent to his phone nor
picked his calls.
