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Nothing would have suggested to
Mr. Bede Nkworji that Saturday, 2nd of November would be his last until some policemen
allegedly conscripted to intimidate him came calling in the small hours of the
morning.
Nkworji had allegedly died at in
the Imo state Police Command following injuries sustained in the hands of the
policemen who came to arrest him on the strength of a petition written by a
wealthy and influential kinsman.
According to one of the survivors
of the arrest and police brutality, Mr Ngozi Nkworji, who is also a brother to
the deceased, the police team from the Anti Crime Unit led by one Lady G., had
come to their village to arrest him and his now deceased brother based on the said
petition.
He maintained that his brother was still
alive but very weak when they got to the police station but the police officers were totally
insensitive and uncaring, as such ignored Bede’s plea
for medical attention until he finally gave-up the ghost as a result of the brutality
and violence visited on him by the police.
He said: “The
body of Bede was left on the floor of the Police station, lying naked like a common criminal.
As a matter of fact, we were three persons arrested on that day; the policemen who stormed our place at about 4am had earlier arrested Bede and the original
land owner from whom we bought the land, Mr Ejike Okere, before I was picked up
at Ulakwo.
It was by the
special grace of God that I am alive today and
still able to speak”, Ngozi revealed.
According to
an eye witness account, the trio of Bede, Ejike and Ngozi were beaten
mercilessly, with their clothes torn
before they were taken to the police command.
It was gathered however that the
issue of the land dispute is not in any law court rather the arrest was strictly
at the instance of the complainant who is reported to be a prominent man in the
area.
Efforts to
identify the officers who went on the operation were unfruitful, but when contacted, the
State Police Public Relations Officers (PPRO), Mr Orlando Ikokwu, confirmed the
development, saying that it was men of the Anti–Vices Squad and not Anti–Crime as earlier claimed by Ngozi that carried out the
operation.
He stated that
they had received a petition
bordering on malicious destruction, conspiracy and
threat to life which led to the arrest. Nonetheless, he denied that the
suspect died in the police station
stating that the suspect died while enroute to the
police command that he began to complain of ill-health and the police took him
to a hospital where he later died.
This, the deceased’s brother had also dismissed
as ‘blatant lie’.
The police spokesman further noted
that youths of Ngor Okpala had taken laws into their hands and burnt down the house of the petitioner on hearing of the death of Bede.
When asked of the name of the hospital where
Bede was taken for medical help, Mr. Orlando Ikeokwu said he was unaware of the
name of the hospital and its location. Liman Dexeris
