Clara Uwaifo: shot from behind

‎A 65-year-old retired school headmistress, Mrs. Clara Uwaifo, has been  shot dead by a suspected teenage cultist in Benin City, capital of Edo state.

Mrs. Uwaifo who retired from Uwelu Primary School, Benin, last August‎, was gunned down on Wednesday, 16 March, by the gate of her residence at  Oviawe Street, Off Upper Siluko Road, Ogida Quarters, at about 3 pm.

The deceased, a widow, was attacked by the assassin while returning from a hospital where she had gone to see her daughter who gave birth to  a baby. 

When journalists visited the home of the Uwaifos,  on Friday, sympathisers who besieged the compound were heard sending curses to  the killer of the woman.

One of the granddaughters of the deceased who allegedly witnessed the gruesome murder  told journalists that she was returning from school when she saw her grandmother also approaching the gate with the suspect following her closely.

She further stated that as she doubled up her steps to meet up with her grandmother in order to assist her with one of the bags she carried, the teenager pulled out a short gun from the pocket of his trousers and shot at the woman from behind.

She however said she identified the suspect as the son of their neighbour whose family has been at loggerheads with the Uwaifos.

She also alleged that members of the suspect’s family had several times threatened to kill the woman and that the threat was reported at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Benin City, last year.

The State Police Command Public Relations Officer, DSP Abiodun Osifo, who confirmed the murder of the retired headmistress, identified the suspect as “one Happy Agbangbanyan, a teenage cultist and serial killer on police wanted list.

He added that the police are already on his trail.