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Four Policemen Detained Over Death Of Mechanic In Cell
No fewer than four policemen have been arrested and detained by the Rivers State Police Command over the death of a mechanic, Ikwunado Chima, in a cell.
The policemen, including the Investigation Police Officer, simply identified as Sam, were said to have been arrested and detained, penultimate Monday, at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Port Harcourt.
It was alleged that the four policemen, who are members of the Eagle Crack, had subjected Chima and four others to extreme torture, a development that led to the death of the mechanic.
It was also learnt that the Commander of the Eagle Crack team, SP Benson Adetuyi, was not among those arrested because he was not aware of the ordeal Chima and four others went through.
“Four policemen involved in the torture of Chima and his friends have been arrested and detained. They were detained at the State CID because of the role they played in Ikwunado Chima’s death. We learnt that they are still investigating the matter,” a security source told our correspondent.
It would be recalled that Chima, a mechanic in Ikoku, died in the cell at the Mile One Police Station after he was tortured by the police, who arrested him alongside four of his friends, claiming they were cultists.
However, there has been uproar over the death of the mechanic, even as the court, last Wednesday, discharged and acquitted Chima’s friends, ruling that they were arrested based on mere suspicion.
Confirming the detention of the four policemen over the alleged torture and death of Chima, the State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Nnamdi Omoni, said they were invited and questioned.
Omoni said that the four policemen were detained after they were questioned, adding that investigation was still ongoing on the matter.
“They (four cops) were detained after questioning, pending the end of the investigation,” the state police spokesman stressed.
On the second autopsy expected to be carried out on the body of the late Chima, Omoni explained that the police were still waiting for the family of the deceased to provide their own pathologist that will be part of the autopsy.
“We are ready for the second autopsy, but we are waiting for the family of the deceased to provide their own pathologist,” Omoni said.
Similarly, the lawyer of late Chima Ikwunado, Barrister Chinyere Lawrence has confirmed the detention of the four police officers at the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID), at the state police headquarters in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
Lawrence made the disclosure at a meeting with the Ohanaeze Ndigbo and the Association of Ikoku Traders, at the weekend.
She said, “I was called by the O.C (Officer In-Charge) Homicide, so, I we went with Chima’s elder brother, Chima’s father and the widow of Chima, and some other persons. We went to the officer, the DC (Deputy Commissioner).
“Before the interview started proper, I heard the DC send somebody to go to the cell and bring those policemen. I was even surprised the policemen came out. Three of them were in uniform and I was informed they have just come back from Abuja.
“One was even in the hospital, the DC sent for him to be brought from the clinic and they brought him. So, four of them I saw personally in police custody,” she said.
Lawrence also challenged comments by the police that the family has not approached them to claim Chima’s corpse, noting that she had written to the police requesting to know why the body was not given the desired attention.
“My law firm wrote the police, and I personally signed the letter. That letter is dated 7th of January, 2020. In fact, one of the demands we put up in that letter is for the release of the body of Chima.
“So, my husband went along with my secretary and served the letter personally to the CP (Commissioner of Police) and tried to see the CP but he did not give him audience,” the lawyer explained.
By: Dennis Naku
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