1. “But victim’s family wants more punishment
for killer cops” sun newspaper 4/21/14
“When six policemen were on a routine patrol two
years ago in Nasarawa State, little did they know that they would soon land
themselves in a self-imposed mess. The mess was devastating enough to cost them
their jobs and subsequently land them in the cell.
On January 6, 2012 in New Nyanya area of the
state, six policemen – Inspector Danladi Lelika, Inspector Odua Eketo, Sergeant
Vincent Manu, Corporal Christopher Maikasua, Corporal Musa Audu and Corporal
Samson Mago, were on a patrol to protect lives and property. But the mission
went sour when one Stephen Anakwe, a dog breeder in Jos, was allegedly shot
dead by the team.
As if that was not enough, acting on the report
from the patrol team, few days later, the police paraded the corpse of the
defenseless civilian, branding him a suspected criminal. Infuriated by the
allegation, a younger brother to the deceased, Mr. Stanley Olisa, petitioned
the then Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, and other authorities about
the injustice and the criminality.
The six officers, as gathered by Daily Sun,
are presently cooling off their heels in the police cell in Makurdi, Benue
State. Following the killing, an investigation panel was set up under the
Criminal Investigation Department. The report revealed that the policemen had
questions to answer before the court of law. The force authorities, therefore,
ordered their immediate dismissal.
Mr. Stanley Olisa told the reporter: “On January
14, 2012, a lady called me from Jos that my brother had a problem with the
police in New Nyanya, Nasarawa State. On January 16, I went to the place and I
made inquiry from residents of the area and they told me that my brother was
beaten up with his right eye plucked out. They said he was picked up alive from
the scene by six policemen on January 13, 2012, handcuffed and taken to the
station in a police van while another policeman drove Stephen’s red Toyota car
along.
Mr. Stanley said he expressed disbelief and shock
when he was informed that the police later paraded his brother’s corpse a few
days later with a twist that Stephen was a suspected armed robber and had been
killed at the spot.
“My lawyer and I rushed down to the New Nyanya
Police Station, Nasarawa. We saw his car and met the Divisional Crime Officer
(DCO), who told us that my brother was a suspected armed robber. The DCO
explained that as his men were approaching my brother, he pulled out a pistol
from his car, pointing it at a corporal, a situation that forced a sergeant
among them to shoot my brother dead. I saw the story as a fabrication.”
As reported by Daily Sun on December 31,
2013, Mr. Stanley vowed to get justice over his late elder brother’s death,
especially due to the mystery that surrounded the death.
“My lawyer asked of the corpse but was told that
it was buried the same day that it was paraded. The lawyer queried the action,
asking why the corpse was not deposited in a mortuary and why the police did
not bother to reach the family through his mobile phone, his vehicle
particulars and Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card. The DCO denied ever seeing
any of those documents, a story that was repeated by the station’s Divisional
Police Officer (DPO).”
He continued: “We left and immediately petitioned
the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Minister of Police Affairs, Chairman of
Police Service Commission, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Executive
Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Director General of
State Security Service (SSS), among others. “The former IGP, Hafiz Ringim,
responded two days later to the petition. We were later called over to the
Police Command Headquarters, Lafia, Nasarawa State. The investigation was about
to start when a message came that the case has been transferred to Zone 4,
Makurdi, Benue State. The policemen asked me to hire a vehicle that would
convey other police officers from Lafia to Makurdi that very day. With
inconvenience, I went to source money to hire the vehicle to convey the police
officers, my lawyer, the witness and myself to Makurdi. We arrived Makurdi at
11:30pm that day. Investigation began the next day by officers in the Criminal
Investigation Department (CID).”
He said he was funding the investigation process,
but he did not mind. Having received permission from the police, he went
further to exhume the corpse which was almost beyond recognition. His mission
was to find the cause of his brother’s death.
He said: “I got men from Benue State, who charged
us N150, 000 to exhume the corpse. Also, we bought shovels and chemicals for
the exhumation. At a point, my friend and I had to join in the exhumation
process because two of the five boys could no longer endure the odour and had
to leave. When we brought out the corpse, the head had gone off because of the
injury my brother sustained in the hands of police officials. I could only
identify him by his feet.
“It was the clothes that he was wearing that kept
the body in form. We got an ambulance, which charged N50, 000 from the cemetery
to Keffi General Hospital Mortuary, where we were told that the corpse had
decomposed beyond what the mortuary could handle. The ambulance driver referred
and drove us to his friend – a mortician- at Uke General Hospital, Uke, along
Abuja Road. The mortician asked us to deposit N50, 000 to keep the corpse. He
later charged us N180, 000 to preserve the corpse. Because there was not enough
money with us, we made part payment to the mortician and the ambulance driver
halfway. The CID officers came back to Abuja under my bill. I was the one that
paid their hotel and food bills for the four days that they stayed.
“The autopsy was done by a pathologist from the
Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Health Service Asokoro District Hospital,
Abuja, at the cost of N450, 000. The autopsy report showed that my brother was
shot from the back and that he was handcuffed.
“We later went to Makurdi where we applied for
permission for police to release the corpse for burial. A corona was signed by
the Court of Appeal before we were granted the authority to bury the corpse. On
February 11, 2012, I left with the corpse to my state at the cost of N50, 000
and it was buried on February 14, 2012. The police wanted me to fund the
ballistic analysis, which I refused at the time.”
He stated that the autopsy confirmed that his late
brother was shot from the back, adding that there was no trace of bullet
shattering his car. He described the allegation of Stephen being shot while in
the car as empty.
When Daily Sun spoke with the former
Assistant Inspector General (AIG) in charge of Zone 4, Makurdi, Mr. Michael
Zuokumor, he said: “Well, there are lots of cases before us here. What we do in
this place is to play advisory role over the Commands, and the Commands are
manned by Commissioners of Police. But, if there are complaints, we look into
them to ascertain if injustice has been done to anybody.
“Police duty is to ensure safety of lives and
property. Police should not be part of killing but, mind you, they carry guns
because at times, in trying to make peace you need some form of force. But, if
the police did not do it in a way they ought to do it, we look into it and if
anybody is found guilty, the person will be dealt with according to law.”
Mr. Stanley recently told our correspondent that
the police confided in him that the men had been dismissed from the force. His
words: “They have investigated the matter and for now, the policemen have been
dismissed. They showed me the dismissal letter, but what they are delaying now
is to go to court.
“So far, I would say that the police have done
well. But dismissing them is not enough. They must pay for the crime they
committed, according to the law. As you know, it is only the court that can
give verdict of any punishment that befits them.”
He said his mission was to make sure that the
death of his brother brought a revival to the police force. “Certainly, my late
brother can’t come back to life but it will serve as a lesson to others and
possibly prevent them from being overzealous with the rifle. Believe me, many
might have been killed in the past without bringing the culprit to book. We
cannot continue in that light. My mission is to prevent other innocent
Nigerians from losing their lives in the hands of an institution that is
supposed to be protecting them.”
Confirming the dismissal, former Provost, Zone 4
Makurdi, Umar Mohamed in a telephone interview with our correspondent, said the
step was to hold all police officers accountable for their actions. He
maintained that any officer that runs contrary to statutory responsibilities
would be dealt with according to law.
According to him, the report from the team of
Criminal Investigation Department showed that the officers were found wanting
in connection with the murder of Stephen Anakwe. He said an immediate order was
given from the police authorities that the six men be dismissed and sent to the
cell.
Hear him: “I am fully are aware of the case. By
the grace of God, the dismissal is part of the ongoing transformation agenda of
the police force. It is true that those six policemen have been dismissed, as
you may be aware. We are now waiting for the case to be taken to court.
“In fact, after the investigation, the police
authorities resolved that they were found guilty and based on that, we
dismissed them.
There is also an order that they should be charged
to court. The next step now is for the police to take them to court. As we
speak, they are right in the cell in Makurdi. Formerly, l was in Zone 4 as the
Provost, that was when we tried the officers but right now, I am in Benue
Command.”
The late Stephen’s father, Mr. Emmanuel Olisa
Anakwe from Anambra, said the death of his beloved son had devastated him. He
said: “I am not happy with the police on how they killed my son. What else can
l say? My son is dead and l am sad and the pain becomes stronger whenever l am
reminded of my hardworking son.
“Nothing could have made my Stephen go into
robbery. He was a responsible son, doing well with his business in Jos. His
character was okay, a well-behaved boy. It’s not because l am his father.
Dismissing the police officers that killed him is good but it is not enough. So
far, we have spent so much money in exhuming the corpse and burying him. The
family needs to be compensated for all these losses.
“I am using this opportunity to thank The Sun
newspaper for a job well done, for standing by the truth.”
Stephen’s best friend, Mr. Moses Oguche said:
“Stephen was a bosom friend, although l may not want to go into the details of
our friendship because it will always make me cry like a baby. It feels so
painful that Stephen was killed in such manner. He had been a good and genuine
friend. He was the first child of his parents just as l am the first child as
well.
“I know him to be somebody that will always stand
for truth and justice. He even took people’s problem on his shoulder. I almost
collapse when they called me that Steve was dead. The police cannot deny it
that my friend was killed unjustly because many people witnessed the incident.
“Because of the incident, l had to postpone my traditional marriage because
Stephen was supposed to be my best man. Before his death, he was fully into the
business of selling Alsatian dogs and God helped him in the business that he
cannot think of stealing. In fact, l can vouch for him that he cannot go into
robbery.
“More than ten people said the killing happened in
their presence. The story that the police earlier gave us completely conflicted
with that of the eyewitnesses. The mum usually calls me and l do sense the
burden and pain in her voice. I believe the case is not one that should be
swept under the carpet. Though the parents are poor and helpless but with this
development, the hope of getting full justice is brightened.””
2. Murder:
Police yet to declare killer cop wanted
Santos Korie
| credits: Family
About
a year ago, a Lagos-based businessman, Santos Korie, was killed in his Sports
Utility Vehicle by a policeman attached to the Lagos State Traffic Management
Authority.
PUNCH Metro
learnt that since the incident occurred in April 2013, the Lagos State Police
Command had yet to declare the killer cop wanted.
PUNCH Metro
had reported on April 12, 2013, that Korie was driving along Mushin-Isolo
Expressway, but on getting to Daleko Bridge, he was accosted by two policemen
for allegedly driving against traffic.
The
family of the deceased had alleged that the police authorities had made efforts
to cover up the crime as indicated in a statement issued by Police Public
Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide.
Braide
had said, “At about 7am, the Area Commander, Area ‘D’ Mushin, received a
distress call that there was a shooting incident around Daleko Bridge, Mushin.
Some policemen were immediately dispatched to the area, but on arrival, the gun
men had disappeared.
“On
enquiry, eyewitnesses clustering around told policemen that the gunmen were in
police uniform and had operated in a commercial bus. The victim died on his way
to the hospital.
“It
was not immediately ascertained whether the gunmen were hired killers in police
uniform or real police officers. Meanwhile, some arrests have been made and the
suspects are currently being detained at the SARS for interrogation.
“It
would be recalled that in recent time, gunmen operating in military and police
uniforms have been involved in one violent crime or another and the Lagos State
Command is not leaving any stone unturned in dealing decisively with any fake
uniformed officer.”
However,
after fresh investigation, PUNCH Metro learnt that one of the policemen,
later identified as Corporal Paul with force number, 355393, was the one who
shot the deceased at close range before fleeing.
The
matter was subsequently transferred to the State Criminal Investigation
Department, Yaba.
Our
correspondent learnt that in the course of investigation, two policemen were
arrested and detained at the SCID, but were later released.
A
cousin to the deceased, Henry Madu, told PUNCH Metro that the family was
depressed over the issue.
Madu
said the case was pathetic because even a year after the incident occurred, the
police had yet to pay a visit to the family.
He
said, “The incident occurred on April 11, 2013. Santos was innocent. He did
nothing wrong, but a trigger-happy policeman decided to end his life just like
that.
“During
investigations, two policemen were arrested. However, after a while, I was invited
to the police headquarters in Lagos where the police explained to me that the
two policemen arrested were not the prime suspects and would have to be
released.
“I
found out that one Corporal Paul, with force number 355393, was the killer, but
the police has yet to declare him wanted. This is very unprofessional. I want
his name and photo gazetted.
“Also,
I know no amount of money can bring Santos back, but the police have not deemed
it fit to even pay the family a visit. They are just acting like nothing
happened.”
Braide
has yet to respond to a text message sent to her telephone as of press time.
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