From Douglas Blessing
Two years after a motor mechanic, Chima Ikwunado, was tortured to death by men of the Eagle Crack Squad, a tactical unit of the Nigerian Police Force in Rivers State, the elder brother, Anthony Ikwunado has lamented the abandonment of his late brother’s remains in the mortuary.
Late Chima was arbitrarily arrested alongside his other four friends, detained, extorted and tortured to death in 2019.
Anthony who spoke with newsmen yesterday in Port Harcourt, lamented that justice was yet to be served in the matter as two senior Police officers who were also culpable in the crime remained unprosecuted.
He said that following the incident, their aged father who was dependent on late Chima was now living in poverty and anguish as his landlord had evicted him from his apartment following his inability to pay his rent.
He said, “As I’m talking to you now our father is not feeling fine, the landlord has chased him out from where he is living, because he couldn’t renew his rent, he doesn’t have money to pay, I am the one taking care of him but I don’t have enough money to pay for mine and his, I don’t even know where to start from.
“My brother is still lying in the mortuary, getting to two years now, December 19, will make it two years, how can he be lying down there up till now and nothing has been done, they (the Police) are asking us to come to Bayelsa.”
“The money, N97,000 they collected from my late brother, his ATM card and other properties that belonged to my brother, I want to see the commissioner of Police so I can tell him that I need that money to use it and pay my father house rent and take care of the man also.”
One of the victims who survived the attack with a scared right arm, Ifeanyi Onyekwere, called on the Police to also prosecute the former Commander of the now defunct Eagle Crack unit, Benson Adetuyi as well as another senior Police officer who investigated the matter, Inspector Sam Amadi.
“Yesterday Enefaa called me that we will be going to Bayelsa next week Tuesday against Commander Benson and Inspector Sam Amadi that there hands are also in our case, the people suffering are their boys in the field, meanwhile the torturing was happening in their backyard and the commander is telling us that he is not aware of the torture until my young man Chima died.
“So we don’t know why the other four people are suffering it alone and Nigerian law has not changed whereby somebody will kill another person and think the person you killed is fowl, Chima is never a fowl and law did not say anymore that kill somebody should go free, we want them (culprits) to come out and face the law, Ikokwu 4 matter is not dead, the Lord is our strength, we want justice so that other police people will learn.”
However, Chairman, Rivers Civil Society Organisation, Enefaa Georgwill, citing section seven of the Anti-Torture Act, noted that the law provides that any police commander that condones torture in his command is culpable to such torture carried out by his men, hence the former commander of the police unit that killed and tortured their suspects should also be brought to book.
“We are calling on the police to investigate and prosecute the former commander of E Crack squad, SP Benson Adetuyi and Inspector Sam Amadi who investigated the matter and our reasons are simple, we had argued that inline with section 7 of the Anti-Torture Act, it is stated that if a police Commander allows a torture chamber to exist in his command, even if he didn’t commit the torture himself, the law states that he is equally culpable.
“Why we are informing the world that we’ll be going to Bayelsa next week is that we have our fears, we wonder why of all the Police units, it is the same police unit that Benson Adetuyi is currently serving, which is zone 16 in Bayelsa is the same place they are asking us to come, so we are worried if we’ll get justice, however we will be there to state our case accordingly.”n Plala
