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.
So sad! When will mob/jungle justice end in Nigeria? What are the various organs of government doing about this ugly trend? Continue to read the rest of the story ...
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.”
Source: The Punch