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My Thoughts: ...He was killed by robbers in Police Uniform? Common! Who are you kidding here?
A retired commissioner of police, Mr. Frank Odita, has said that autopsy will unravel the mystery surrounding the killing of Ugochukwu Ozuah, in Gbagada, Lagos, on Thursday.
While the deceased’s family members said Ozuah was killed by policemen, the police insisted he was killed by armed robbers in police uniform.
Ozuah’s friend, Irikefe Omene, who witnessed the murder, claimed he and the deceased were about to alight from his car around 10pm when some policemen opened fire on Ozuah for unknown reasons. Omene, who flew in from the United Kingdom, to attend the wedding which held on September 15, 2012, said immediately after the incident, he went to the Anthony Police Division where he wrote a statement before leaving for the hospital where Ozuah died.
But the Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, at a press conference on Monday said Omene did not write any statement, adding that it was wrong for him to have left the country before investigations were concluded.
Odita however said, “An autopsy should be carried out and the pathologist should establish the cause of death. If it is established that the death was caused by a bullet, a ballistician will be able to tell which weapon the bullet came from and it would be traced down to whoever fired it.
“If the deceased was shot by the police, the police bullet would be extracted from his body and the same process would take place. In this case, it should be easy to solve since the area where the shooting took place is known.”
Odita said the police’s hasty response to the allegation was probably based on the transformation agenda of the Inspector-General of Police aimed at restoring public confidence in the police.
Human rights organisations have also said the mystery can be resolved through autopsy.
Programme Advocacy Coordinator, Network on Police Reform in Nigeria, Mr. Okey Nwaguma, advised Ozuah’s family to insist on a prompt, impartial and exhaustive police investigation, which must include an autopsy and ballistic examination of the bullets.
However, the cases of extra-judicial killings by policemen seem to have risen in the past one year.
On January 9, during the subsidy protests, the Divisional Police Officer, Pen Cinema, Mr. Segun Fabunmi, allegedly shot and killed a 26-year-old man, Abiodun Ademola
On July 2, a 27-year-old motorcycle dealer, Sunday Okoli, was allegedly pushed to death from a moving vehicle by policemen attached to the Ishashi Division, Ojo after refusing to give them N5,000 bribe. In July again, series of protests were held in Lagos after Chief Timothy Hunpoyanwha, was shot dead by a policeman, Peple Boma, during the demolition of shanties on July 21, 2012 on the Iwaya/Makoko waterfront, Yaba Local Council Development Area.
On September 6, 2012, a police corporal, Abbey Adekunle attached to Meiran Division, Lagos, allegedly shot and killed Dele Oroja, the chairman of the tricycles union during an argument.
Nwaguma said incessant killings of civilians persisted because the perpetrators were never brought to book.
He said, “Research by NOPRIN and other NGOs, as well as international human rights advocacy groups repeatedly indicate that police killings remain widespread and on the rise. Police killings in Nigeria are daily reported in local and international media. Perpetrators are hardly brought to account as police authorities often tend to cover up killings by their personnel.
“The recent murder of Ozuah by the police as claimed by eyewitnesses, and the hasty claim by the police that it was armed robbers even before investigations could be conducted- will easily be seen in the context of the unacceptable pattern of rampant police killing of the citizens they are charged to protect, and the authorities’ proclivity to cover up the perpetrators.”
Quoting a report by Noprin Criminal Force, published in 2010,Dr.Chidi Odinkalu, Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, said recently that “by some estimate, the police execute well over 2, 500 detainees summarily every year.”
Culled from The Punch Nigeria.
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Simply Cheska...
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