Meanwhile , testifying before the Federal Government’ s Independent Investigative Panel probing cases of police brutality in Abuja , a petitioner , Miss Chineye Igwetu, on Thursday , broke down in tears as she recounted how her 23 – year – old younger sister was allegedly shot by a policeman around Ceddi Plaza in the Central Area of Abuja in July 2018 .
Chineye said her sister, Linda Igwetu , was shot by Inspector Benjamin Peters of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command , Abuja , in the night of July 3 , 2018 .
She said the policeman later claimed that he opened fire on the car conveying the deceased because the driver of the car refused to stop when he was flagged down.
Chineye said the deceased died in her pool of blood the next morning at 6 am on July 4 , 2018 , few hours before the deceased was to pass out from the National Youth Service Corps scheme.
The petitioner , who appeared strong at the beginning of her about – 15 -minute testimony , lost control of her emotion as she broke down in tears when she started narrating how the deceased died at Garki General Hospital , Abuja , allegedly without being accorded the necessary first aid .
She recalled that her sister was observing her service year at a customer service provider firm , Outsource Global Company in Mabushi , Abuja , as her place of primary assignment .
She said the deceased was living with her and usually resumed work at 1 pm and closed at 11 pm .
According to her , in the night of July 3 , 2018 , the day of the incident , Linda was out with two of her colleagues, Tobi Bamidele and Arafat , to celebrate her passing- out from the NYSC scheme which was to take place the following morning .
She said that at about 10 . 22 pm on the fateful day , Linda sent her a WhatsApp message to inform her that she was going out to have some drinks with her colleagues to celebrate her imminent passing out from the NYSC scheme.
She said after waiting on her to return for some time , she slept off but later woke up at about 2 am and was surprised to find out that the deceased , who had a spare key to the apartment, had yet to return .
She said , “At about 4 . 35 am , I got a distress call from an unknown number and it was Mr Bamidele Tobi , asking me to come quickly to Garki hospital that something happened on their way home .
“ I got to the hospital and was informed that my sister was shot by Inspector Benjamin Peters . Mr Tobi narrated that on their way home , they heard a loud sound and initially thought it was a tyre burst . He said the next thing was that my sister tapped him from the back seat that something hit her below her breast .
“ They looked back and found my sister gasping for breath in her pool of blood and that was when they realised that she was hit by a bullet and that the sound they heard was that of a gunshot .
“ On their way to Garki hospital , the police stopped them and followed them to the hospital . ”
She said her sister kept bleeding at the hospital , but despite her and her friend ’ s readiness to donate blood to save the deceased ’ s life , the nurses and doctors said they would not take blood from a woman.
She said she called on her male friends and left for the national blood bank at Zone 4 in Wuse, Abuja , where they were initially told that there was no blood .
She said shortly after she left , a call from the blood bank asked her to return to get some blood .
She added that she was on her way back when one of her male friends who had been to the hospital to donate blood , called her to return to the hospital .
She said she returned to the blood bank all the same, only to later find out that she was being called to return to the hospital earlier because her sister had died .
“ My sister passed out at about 6 am after she was in a pool of blood without the necessary first aid, ” she said .
Asked if she had heard from the police since the incident , she said Inspector Peters who allegedly shot her sister was arrested and interrogated but after some back – and -forth engagements with the police over the matter , the investigative police officer, whom the case was assigned to . stopped answering her calls .
She added that she received a call from the then Senate President , Dr . Bukola Saraki, who later set up a four -man committee of senators to probe the case .
She said , “ We kept going back and forth . The hearing went on for about a week. The Inspector – General of Police came . But they kept saying ‘ come back today , come back tomorrow , ’ until nothing happened again .
“ I kept going to the IPO. At some points he stopped answering my calls and I got tired . ”
Asked what she wanted from the panel , Chineye said , “ I want justice. I want my family to be compensated . I want to see my family smile once again . I want justice for my sister. ”
Ogun panel begins sitting , receives 40 petitions
In Ogun State , the Judicial Panel of Investigation set up by the state government on Thursday , began its sitting after receiving no fewer than 40 petitions from victims .
The Chairman of the Panel , Justice Solomon Olugbemi ( rtd ) while speaking at the inaugural sitting in Abeokuta , said the panel was not out to witch – hunt any security operative , but to ensure equity, fairness and justice for all.
Olugbemi who said the panel was ready to receive more petitions , warned against threat and intimidation of petitioners.
Police, shot and crippled me and prevented hospital from treating me , victim tells Ogun panel
Also on Thursday , a victim of police brutality , Kamol Ganiu , told the state judicial panel of investigation how “unknown ” police officers shot him in the leg and crippled him .
Ganiu alleged that the Divisional Police Officer of the Ibara Division , refused to produce the officer that fired the shot and also prevented hospital from treating him .
While narrating how the incident happened , Ganiu said after being shot , his mother and brother were detained by the a former DPO of Ibara, Bolaji Oluwasegun
The victim said he was shot in the leg by unknown police officers of the state police command attached to the Ibara division on July 17 , 2018 .
He said he was hit by the police a stray bullet while he was driving at 3 am around Ibara area of the state.
Ganiu said , “ When I was hit by the bullet , I managed to drive to the hospital for treatment where my mother and my brother were told that they would not treat me without a police report .
“ My brother and mother went to Ibara police station to obtain the report but they were detained by the police instead .
“ My car was also seized and later released to my family on July 31 , 2018 after paying N 50 , 000 .
“ They accused me of being an armed robber but after several hours of persuasion , they gave them the report , but by the time they got to the hospital my condition had worsened .
“ After the incident , I spent one year and two months on the hospital bed . I lost everything during the period .
“ Early this year, the police from the command headquarters offered my family N 250 , 000 as a fee to forget about the case but my family rejected it. ”
The chairman of the panel adjourned the matter till Monday for further hearing.
Awkuzu SARS killed my husband , asked me to remarry – widow tells panel
In Anambra State , a widow of a victim of SARS, Chidinmma Edozieuno on Thursday told the state judicial panel on police brutality that policemen attached to the unit killed her husband in 2017 and asked to remarry .
“ They told me to give him the last goodbye by kissing him , ” she stated .
Edozieuno, who petitioned the panel , asked it to give her reasonable compensation for the loss of her husband and property .
She said her husband , Johnson, was a businessman who was based in Benin Republic but came to Nigeria to visit her and her baby when he was taken away by SARS officials.
She said , ” We were in our house in Awka that fateful day in August 2017 when some gunmen broke into our house and took my husband . They also took away our property and told me to go and marry another man that ‘ this one is as good as dead . ’
“ They said my husband was a kidnapper. I did not even know where they came from , and at first , I didn ’ t even know they were policemen.
“ With the help of a friend , who is a police officer, we started looking for my husband . He took me to many police stations to know if they detained him , but he was with none of them. We went to Awkuzu SARS office , and that was where I saw three of the men who came and arrested my husband .
“ I hired a lawyer and we went to court . It was in court that the counsel representing SARS told us that my husband was dead . They said he was a kidnapper. I dated my husband for a long time before we got married . He was not a kidnapper. I lived in Benin and that was where we knew each other . I later relocated to Nigeria . My husband was from Aguleri . ”
The Chairman of the panel , Justice V . N. Umeh ( retd ) , assured her of justice.
Punch
