U.S. police hunt for suspected killers of Nigerian

OUTRAGED at the gruesome murder of a
Nigerian in the Brownsville area of
Brooklyn, the police in New York have
begun a move to unravel the suspected
attackers.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Sunday
quoted sources as saying that the victim office
the attack, Uro Ama Orji, 54, a cab driver in
the area, was stabbed in the eye with an
umbrella on Thursday.
After he had been wounded, his
vehicle crashed into two parked sports
utility vehicles at Lott Avenue and Boyland
Street at about 5.30 p.m.
Orji, who resided in Queens, was taken to
Brookdale Hospital where he was
pronounced dead.
Following the development, a
$5,000 reward was offered for information
that could lead to the arrest of the
suspects.
The New York State Federation of Taxi
Drivers offered a $3,000 reward, while the
group of 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement
Who Care offered another $2,000.
Police said they were looking for a man and
woman who were passengers in the cab
and seen running from the scene.
A video showed the man getting out of the
cab, opening the front door of the vehicle
and stabbing Orji with an umbrella.
“It’s clearly on that video. You have a
female and male, and the male runs, the
young lady walking away, perhaps guilt got
the best of her.
“This is a total outrage. This is just a
guy trying to make a buck to probably feed
himself and his family only to have his life
taken for less than $10 or maybe $20 ,
which is close to the average fare one
would pay for a local ride inside Brooklyn”,
community advisor, Tony Herbert, said.
“It’s a very dangerous job, a very
dangerous business,” Fernando Mateo,
President of the New York State Federation
of Taxi Drivers, also said.
Community activists are asking a UPS driver
who might have witnessed the incident to
come forward.
Orji, a father of five children, came from
Nigeria to U.S. 10 years ago to make
a better living for his family.
His children, whose ages are from 13 to 22,
arrived in U.S. from Nigeria in December.
“It’s still early, fresh. They are still in the
denial stage,” said Orji’s brother, Agwu Ana
Agwu.
His sister-in-law, Chinedum Agwu, said he
was a good father who was just trying to
make ends meet.
“He was a very dedicated, loving father. An
innocent man who was just working hard to
make sure his kids eat. Everything he was
doing was to take care of his children.
“It’s horrible. How do you do something
like that? How do you wake up and have in
your mind to go out and hurt somebody?”
she said.

Culled from The Guardian.