posted the video of their lynching on Youtube.
They claim that the Nigerian Police (Badagry
division) watched as these men were hacked to
death before their prime. They are crying out to the
world for justice and brought the barbaric incident to
the attention of the media.
comprehensive report of the sad incident from Punch read below...so sad...
Punchng.com reports:
Policemen attached to the Badagry Police
Division, Lagos State, and some hoodlums have
been accused of killing a 25-year-old
undergraduate of Delta State University,
Ifechukwude Nwainokpor, and his friend,
identified simply as Kazeem.
An eight-minute video clip of the gruesome
killing, which was made available to PUNCH
Metro, showed the two victims handcuffed
together. They were covered in their own blood
and beaten to death with sticks. Tyres were also
put round their necks.
An irate mob could be seen in the video, shouting,
"die, die, burn them, burn them."
At some points in the video, a policeman was
seen interviewing the boys. He asked who sent
them (victims) to rob the area, an accusation they
denied. One of the hoodlums, holding a sharp
object attempted to cut off the private part of one
of the victims.
Nwainokpor could be seen pleading with the
hoodlums and policemen to spare his life, saying
he could identify himself if given a chance. His
plea, however, fell on deaf ears.
Our correspondent, who visited the family of
Nwainokpor on Tuesday, learnt that the lynching
took place around 3pm on July 21, 2013 in Ajara
area of Badagry, a community not far from
Nwainokpor's family home.
His father, Samuel, told PUNCH Metro that his son
was arrested while passing through a street in the
area but a misunderstanding later ensued and
the hoodlums pounced on him and Kazeem.
He added that Nwainokpor, who was nicknamed
Ify, was a final year student of Geology and
Mining.
He said, "On that particular day, I was in Ghana
when I received a telephone call that I should
come immediately. My wife was in Delta State
taking care of her mother.
"When I arrived two days later, my relatives and
the caretaker of my house told me that my son
was killed in the Ajara area along with his friend. I
was devastated.
"I got my son a temporary job with a Customs
licensed agent since their lecturers were on
strike. He worked everyday except on Sundays
when he visited his friends. On that day, he went
to see Kazeem and they were strolling around
Ajara."
Samuel said because there had been a robbery in
Ajara four days earlier, some of the residents were
on the lookout for strange faces.
He added that when the youth saw two unknown
young men, they accosted them and an
argument ensued.
He said the youth called the head of the vigilante
group in the area, one Asiribo.
He said, "Asiribo came to the scene with a locally-
made pistol and handcuffs. He handcuffed my son
and his friend before asking them questions.
"Later, it was decided that the boys be taken to
the Baale, Agano Oniyon of Agamade Ajara. But
as they were going, Asiribo, while trying to return
his gun into its pouch, mistakenly shot himself in
the stomach and died."
Samuel said Asiribo's death infuriated the youth,
who blamed the boys for his death.
"The mob picked up sticks and beat them to
death. Policemen were there," he said.
Holding back tears, the retired immigration officer
added that the police treated the matter as a
robbery case. Beating his chest, Samuel said
there was no way his son would have been
involved in armed robbery.
He said, "I have been living in Badagry since
1982. I have only two children and Ifechukwude
is the first. Ironically, he was born in that same
area where he was killed.
"I have lived in this area without any trouble and
the residents can tell you that my sons are good
boys."
Nwainokpor's boss, Aloysius Onyenibedi,
described him as an honest and hardworking
person.
"I trusted him to the extent that I used to keep a
lot of money with him. He was good to my
children and was honest," he said.
The Nwainokpor family berated the Divisional
Police Officer, Badagry Police Station, Dankoli
Mohammed, for the manner he treated the case.
Samuel said when he approached the DPO, he
was told that his son was killed at midnight for
armed robbery.
He said, "When the policemen came to take the
corpses, guns were planted on them. Policemen at
the station told the DPO that they were robbers.
Their corpses were taken along with that Asiribo
to Badagry General Hospital's mortuary.
"The following morning, the DPO released
Asiribo's corpse for burial without investigation.
My relatives went to the station and after showing
the DPO the video, the matter was transferred to
the Area K Command.
"At Present, Asiribo's son has fled, while the DPO
has been unable to identify the policemen who
were present at the scene when my son and his
friend were killed."
PUNCH Metro however learnt that through the
video, some people had arrested one of the
perpetrators. The suspect had been transferred to
the State Criminal Investigation Department,
Panti, Yaba.
The spokesperson for the state police command,
Ngozi Braide, said, "The incident is quite pathetic.
Even if they were armed robbers, no one has the
right to take the life of another. Why then do we
have the police and the judiciary? The Nigerian
police as well as the law condemn mob action and
jungle justice. The commissioner of police has set
up a high- powered investigation body to
investigate the matter."
No comments:
Post a Comment