Adeda Death: Full Details Emerge on How Education Commissioner Punched, Ordered Aides to Beat and Tie Deputy Director – Staff
An eyewitness has alleged that the Delta State Commissioner for Secondary Education, Kingsley Ashibogwu, punched a deputy director in the ministry and then ordered aides and a driver to beat and tie him, in an incident now at the centre of a police investigation into the official’s death.
The deputy director, Unity Ekpevbughe Adeda, died after the alleged confrontation at the Commissioner’s office in Asaba. Six people have been arrested or declared wanted in connection with the case, and accounts of what happened before he was taken to hospital differ sharply.
The claim comes from an eyewitness account circulated by Pararan Mock News, with video of that account published by Diamond Dietanuru Osakorigh. Police are examining the circumstances of the incident, including available video footage, eyewitness accounts and medical records.
Six people connected to the case
Those in custody include the Commissioner for Secondary Education, Kingsley Ashibogwu, his aide Lucky Adoh and Mrs. Clementina Ufuoma Ojumah, Director of Exams and Standards, who turned herself in to police.
Police are also looking for Clement Apia, the Commissioner’s driver, Enos Attah, a Commissioner’s aide, and Oputa Okestine, another Commissioner’s aide.
The arrests and manhunt followed Adeda’s death after the confrontation at the ministry. Police authorities say the inquiry will determine what role each person connected with the incident played.
What the eyewitness alleges
The witness described herself as a staff member in the Exams and Standards Department and said the trouble started with a disagreement over the posting of principals.
She said Adeda had an ongoing dispute involving Lucky and a director in the ministry and that she tried to step in when the disagreement escalated.
“I knelt down for Adeda and the Director started shouting,” the witness said in the account.
She said the dispute continued after the director allegedly blocked Adeda, with the two exchanging words as tensions rose.
The witness further alleged that the director contacted Commissioner Ashibogwu and that instructions were given to stop Adeda from leaving the premises before the Commissioner arrived. According to the account, the director allegedly used her vehicle to block the entrance.
She claimed Adeda tried to drive out but struck the other vehicle once the entrance was blocked, and that the director would not move her car despite pleas to let him go.
The situation allegedly escalated further when Ashibogwu arrived at the ministry.
According to the eyewitness, the Commissioner and Adeda had a heated exchange in which Adeda raised accusations about the transfer and posting of school principals, accusing the Commissioner of improper dealings with principals over those postings and transfers.
The witness alleged that the Commissioner punched Adeda and that the punch led to a physical struggle involving Adeda and people at the scene.
She then made the more serious allegation that Ashibogwu ordered his aides and driver to assault Adeda.
“They beat him and tied him like a goat,” she alleged.
No court has established that the Commissioner ordered the assault, and police are examining the claim along with others in the case. Ashibogwu denies that he gave any order to attack or beat Adeda.
According to the eyewitness, police were contacted during the incident, and Adeda was vomiting blood by the time officers arrived.
She said officers treated it as more than a routine arrest and insisted he be taken to hospital. He was later taken to hospital, where he died.
The precise medical cause of death remains a question for the ongoing investigation and for any medical evidence that is available.
The witness also said she appealed to Director Clementina Ufuoma Ojumah to let Adeda go, offering to settle whatever problem had arisen and pleading for his release.
She alleged that both the director and the Commissioner bore responsibility for what happened to Adeda. The claims are part of the eyewitness account being weighed alongside other evidence.
Commissioner denies ordering the attack
Speaking to SaharaReporters, Ashibogwu rejected the allegation that he ordered anyone to beat Adeda.
He said he received a distress call from the Director of Examinations alleging that Adeda was attacking people and threatening to kill anyone who came near him.
Ashibogwu said he travelled to the ministry after taking the call.
In his account, he asked Adeda whether he knew him, and Adeda allegedly replied that he did not want to know him and threatened to attack anyone who approached him.
“I never ordered anybody to attack or beat him,” Ashibogwu said.
He also said he was not a violent person and that he could not lie about a dead person.
The two versions cannot be reconciled: the eyewitness says Ashibogwu punched Adeda and instructed aides to beat and restrain him, which he denies.
Competing accounts and public questions
The two accounts have left unanswered questions about events inside the ministry after the Commissioner turned up, including:
- “Who ordered your aides and driver to beat him?” The question follows the eyewitness allegation that aides and the Commissioner’s driver assaulted and restrained Adeda after he arrived at the scene.
- “What were you doing when your aides and driver were beating him?” The question concerns the Commissioner’s presence at the scene and the allegation that his aides and driver took part in the assault.
Should it emerge that no such instruction came from the Commissioner, investigators will still have to determine who is alleged to have ordered the assault, who joined in and what occurred during the confrontation.
At the heart of the inquiry are questions of whether any assault took place, who was involved and under what instructions, and what happened between the confrontation and the moment Adeda was admitted to hospital.
Ashibogwu denies giving any such order.
Sources within the Ministry of Secondary Education have given a different account.
Speaking to Vanguard, the sources reportedly said footage showed Adeda driving at colleagues and ramming vehicles and property around the Exams and Standards Department.
The sources also raised concerns about Adeda’s behaviour and referred to alleged mental health challenges.
No available account independently establishes those claims, and they remain distinct from any confirmed medical finding.
With the versions in conflict, video footage, witness statements, medical records and other evidence are central to the inquiry.
Panel, protests and what investigators must establish
The Delta State Police Command has handed the case to the Homicide Section of its State Criminal Investigation Department.
Investigators are expected to review any video footage, statements from eyewitnesses, medical records and the conduct of people linked to the incident.
Commissioner of Police Samuel E. Erale has given an assurance that no one found culpable will be shielded, regardless of their position.
Police have not publicly identified any particular suspect as having caused Adeda’s death.
An eight-member administrative panel of inquiry has also been set up by the Delta State Government to look into the circumstances of the death.
Charity Ehimen, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Head of Service, chairs the panel, which was given two weeks to submit its report.
The panel was created amid mounting concern over how Adeda died and calls for an independent look at the incident.
Residents of Adeda’s home community, Otovwodo in Ughelli North Local Government Area, have protested over his death and called for justice.
Protesters carried placards reading, among other messages, “Justice for Adeda,” “A Killer Cannot Be a Commissioner” and “Enough is Enough.”
The community has rejected the government’s panel, with its representatives pointing out that neither Adeda’s family nor Otovwodo representatives sit on it.
The community followed that with a seven-day ultimatum to the Delta State Government, warning of further action if its demands go unmet.
A transparent investigation has also been demanded by the Urhobo Progress Union Worldwide, which wants relevant evidence preserved and witnesses protected, and says anyone found culpable should face prosecution in line with the law.
Investigators will need to establish:
- What set off the confrontation between Adeda and his colleagues.
- Whether Adeda tried to leave the ministry and whether anyone blocked his exit.
- What took place when Commissioner Ashibogwu arrived.
- Whether the Commissioner assaulted Adeda physically.
- Whether anyone instructed aides or a driver to assault or restrain Adeda.
- Who took part in the alleged assault.
- Whether Adeda was restrained and, if so, for how long.
- What injuries Adeda suffered.
- What treatment he received once police arrived.
- The medical cause of his death and the circumstances surrounding it.
- Whether footage backs any of the competing accounts.
- What responsibility, if any, each person connected with the incident bears.
The police inquiry is continuing, and the accounts available so far give markedly different pictures of what took place inside the Ministry of Secondary Education.