Soldiers Executed Benson Ogedegbe For Exposing Their Crimes

SaharaReporters has obtained an exclusive copy of the coroner’s autopsy report of Mr. Benson Ogedgebe, who was executed by soldiers of the 19th Battalion stationed at Koko Military Base in the Oghara area of Delta State.

The shocking details of the autopsy report confirms witness testimony from community members who were present at the scene.

Witnesses told SaharaReporters that Mr. Ogedgebe was pursued by soldiers while driving on his way to work at a local school. After they forced him off the road and into a nearby motor park they dragged him from his vehicle.

According to a witness, “five military men came out of the vehicle and started giving orders and at that moment they beat him mercilessly. They treated him not as a human but as an animal. They shot him directly in his tummy. The guy was lying down lifeless on the ground.”

It was later learned that the gunman, Lance Corporal Obinna, received an order from his Commanding Officer Lieutenant Corporal Aminu Umar to execute Mr. Ogedegbe.

It was also learned that, after Mr. Ogedegbe’s murder, the soldiers drove his corpse to the nearby Delta State University Teaching Hospital (DELSUTH) where an autopsy was performed.

Mr. Ogedegbe’s body was identified by his elder brother and the autopsy report was signed by Dr. Uchendu O.J., a consultant pathologist from the Delta State University Teaching Hospital Oghara (DELSUTH).

The report detailed that Mr. Ogedegbe suffered from gunshot wounds to the abdomen, in which the "projectile travel[ed] downward towards the left and slightly posterity." This detail corroborates witness testimony that soldiers of the 19th Battalion dragged Mr. Ogedegbe to the ground prior to his execution, given that the bullet traveled in a downward direction.

Furthermore, "the angle of trajectory of the projectile is greater than 45 degrees to the horizontal plane," which also supports eyewitness testimony that it was “execution style.” The report also confirmed that the soldier's attack was from close range shot.

It stated that the cause of his death was a “massive hemorrhage due to rifled gunshot wounds to the abdomen."

 

The post-mortem examination also notes that Mr. Ogedegbe "was said to have been shot by some soldiers and died before any medical intervention could reach him."

Fetus Ukpe, from the Counsel to the African Network for Environmental and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), has been active in the pursuit of justice for Mr. Ogedegbe and his family. ANEEJ has written letters to the Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff and the Chief of Army Staff calling for an immediate and comprehensive investigation into the activities of the men of the 19 Battalion, Koko, Delta State in the extrajudicial killing of Mr. Ogedegbe.

SaharaReporters has learned that Lt. Col. Umar and the soldiers attached to the 19th Battalion has apparently under investigation, though no evidence of that fact has been provided.