One year after at least 65 members of a joint team of policemen and operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, were gruesomely killed in an ambush by Ombatse cult members in Alakyo Village, Nasarawa State, some of the widows have decried the non-release of the corpses nor the benefits due to the slain security operatives.
No one has been prosecuted for the killings.
On Wednesday, about 50 widows staged a peaceful protest in Akwanga Local Government Area of the State demanding the release of the corpses of their husbands, who were slain in the line of duty.
The widows’ spokesperson, Victoria Elisha, told reporters that they are demanding the release of the corpses to enable them perform befitting burial rites for their loved ones.
“We give the state government three weeks ultimatum to give us the corpses of our late husbands.
“We demand to be shown the bodies of our husbands for us to be sure they were among those that were killed”, she said.
Ms. Elisha warned that if at the expiration of the ultimatum nothing is done, they will relocate to the state government house in Lafia, to draw attention to their plight.
“At the expiration of the ultimatum, all the widows and their children will relocate to government house for the state governor to house us”, Ms. Elisha stressed.
She added that the state government had promised to provide them (widows) with jobs and to also take care of their children’s upkeep but regretted that they have been abandoned to fate.
“The government also promised to cater for our feeding until we get employment… but we are neglected”, she said.
The widows also accused the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, of selective treatment in the payment of benefits of their late spouses.
Ms. Elisha claimed that after repeated appeals to the IGP, the widows of younger officers have yet to be paid any benefit due their late husbands.
“The Inspector General of Police has not shown any concern to our plight despite repeated pleas and we are yet to hear anything on the benefits of our husbands.
“But let me tell you that the benefits of senior officers who led operation where our husbands were killed have been paid in full”, Ms. Elisha said.
The widows also used the opportunity to appeal to the Northern States Governors Forum, NSGF, to redeem the pledge of N100 million made to them.
