Ohanaeze protests mechanic’s loss of life in Rivers police detention, calls for justice
<!– tmc_ads_send({ “data-tmc-application”: “240527QJBmDrni”, “data-tmc-seat”: “240527FGR657jX” }) –>
The mud generated by the loss of life of a motor mechanic, Chukwudi Abraham, whereas in detention on the Octopus Strike Force of the Rivers State Police Command in Port Harcourt has but to settle, because the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has staged a protest demanding justice.
The members of the apex Igbo socio-cultural group gathered on the spare elements market in Ikoku, Mile Two space of Port Harcourt on Saturday afternoon the place the deceased’s store was situated and marched across the place after that they had paid a condolence go to to his household.
During the protest, the protesters insisted that Chukwudi’s loss of life in January was suspicious and known as on the Inspector General of Police to order a radical investigation to establish the circumstances of his loss of life, unmask the perpetrators and make them face the regulation.
Speaking to newsmen, the Eze Ndi Igbo in Rivers and Bayelsa states, Sir Sam Nwokolo, stated the deceased was arrested by the tactical police unit led by a senior officer beneath what he described as a vendetta mission and was detained illegally.
Eze Nwokolo debunked claims by the police that Chukwudi was a kidnapper and detained him illegally, saying an in depth examination of the deceased’s physique confirmed that he was tortured and resulted in his loss of life.
While noting {that a} pathologist had been consulted to conduct an post-mortem on his physique in collaboration with the police, he said {that a} scenario the place an arrested suspect dies in detention, particularly within the stated circumstances left a lot to be desired.
He said, “We visited the market the place the deceased carried out his enterprise to have firsthand info as a result of one among our topics, an Igbo son, was murdered by the Nigeria Police males in Rivers State.
“So, we came to interface with the people, the spare parts dealers in Port Harcourt where he operated his business, the Igbo community and the family of the deceased. From our observation, we discovered that with the kind of business the deceased was into, I don’t think he had a history of crime.”
Continuing, Eze Nwokolo, stated, “You can’t simply allege that the deceased was a kidnapper since you had private issues with the person. Taking a private vendetta isn’t tantamount to the individual being tagged as a kidnapper.
“We need justice to take its course. We have a authorities right here in Rivers State and a governor who listens to us. So we wouldn’t need to do one thing that could be tantamount to disrupting the peace within the state understanding full properly that we’re over 5 million in Rivers State as a individuals.
“You can’t simply kill anyone and go scot-free. So now we have spoken to our individuals to stay calm and law-abiding that we’ll get justice for him. I’ve additionally spoken to the governor and he has assured me that we’d get justice.
“So believing the state governor that those that are liable for his loss of life can be dropped at e-book irrespective of who and it doesn’t matter what nomenclature he carries as a police officer or no matter.
“We have seen the corpse and from our remark, he was murdered. We have additionally contacted a pathologist to hold out an post-mortem to confirm the reason for his loss of life.
“He has two young children. His spouse is within the village now, and he has an aged father and mom. He was the breadwinner of the household and took care of his household and his siblings.
“You cannot just come and switch off the bulb of a family. We won’t allow that to happen.”
Also talking, the deceased’s youthful sibling, Chibueze Abraham, expressed bitterness that his brother was arrested on January 11, 2024, however that the police denied the household and their lawyer entry to him.
Chibueze additional stated they had been knowledgeable that the matter was beneath investigation and that he wouldn’t be allowed to see him, however they had been shocked to listen to about his loss of life on social media.
He stated, “The subsequent factor we heard was that our brother was useless. So, we went there to search out out if it was true. But they (the police) didn’t give us entry. So we wrote a petition to the IG regarding the matter. The petition was accredited and brought to the workplace of the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, however nothing was carried out concerning the matter.
“You took the person into custody and killed him. What we want is for justice to prevail.”
The spokesperson for the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, in an announcement, had denied that the deceased was tortured as alleged, saying he was implicated within the kidnapping, armed theft, and cultism.
“The assertion learn, “The police wish to inform the general public that the deceased was implicated in a case involving kidnapping, armed theft, and cultism.
“This pertains to the kidnapping of a feminine enterprise tycoon (title withheld) within the Diobu space of Port Harcourt on September 7, 2023. The sufferer was kidnapped by 5 armed gunmen and brought to a hideout in Elechi waterside.
“The kidnappers had been armed with AK-47 rifles, a pump-action shotgun, and locally-made pistols. The sufferer was held captive for seven days and was launched after the sufferer’s household paid a ransom of N3.5m.
“She stated investigations revealed that the deceased was a member of the Dey-Gbam secret cult gang and that he and his accomplices bought one of many AK-47 rifles used through the operation.
“The case of the death of the suspect has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for discreet investigations to ensure a thorough and impartial examination of the circumstances surrounding this incident,” she famous.
