Murdered by Police at Festac .

 

When 32-year-old Oyoma Edewor returned back to Nigeria in 2011 from the United Kingdom (UK), he had such big dreams of conquering the world.  The building contractor, the fourth child in a family of 13, had so much mapped out what to do.

However, three years down the life, those dreams have been snuffed out through one reckless act by a power-drunk police sergeant who in a moment of rage shot at Edewor for 'daring' to be a citizen.

When the deceased left his house on Saturday, May 10, no one including himself had premonition of what the day would bring. Alongside his cousin, they set out for the day's activity and afterwards, they set off for home.

But for the flat tyre he had, Edewor might still be alive today. He was actually towing his vehicle into FESTAC Town when some policemen from the FESTAC Police Division of the Area E Command tried to stop the towing vehicle.

When they were unable to, the policemen were said to have given them chase in a commercial vehicle. Having succeeded in overtaking them, they allegedly dragged out the deceased and made him seat in the cold floor before they shot him.

According to eyewitness accounts, the victim who was shot while he was towing a vehicle, was accosted by the trigger-happy policeman and ordered to stop. Having failed to obey the order, the police sergeant who became infuriated at the blatant disregard of his orders, was said to have opened fire on the occupants of the vehicle.

A stray bullet hit the deceased in the hand while other occupants of the vehicle fled to safety, abandoning him in a pool of his blood. He died hours later after he was left unattended and though the Area E Commander, ACP Dan Okoro raced to the scene immediately he was intimated on the situation on ground and rushed the deceased to the hospital where he was confirmed dead by a doctor.

Narrating the story of what transpired that fateful Saturday, Olayinka Tijani, a cousin of the deceased who was with him at the scene of the incident said, "We were with some of his friends when we were towing the jeep that developed a fault from Dubar road, FESTAC.
"We were towing it to 5th Avenue when he met his untimely death at the hands of the police officer who fired the fatal close range shot that pierced through his right hand and entered his stomach.

"We were asked to stop by the police but the towing vehicle which had developed brake problem was unable to stop and as such was suspected to be towing a stolen vehicle and was chased by two policemen who caught up with the towing vehicle at another checking point and dragged the occupants of the vehicles out.

"We were told to park, but the driver drove on, not knowing that his brake had gone bad, they came after us with a shuttle bus after forcing a woman commercial driver to chase the vehicle. At 3rd Avenue, the towing vehicle hit the shuttle bus chasing us and it later hit another vehicle before he was able to stop by hitting an object they used to brake the car. Then the policemen arrived. They dragged us out of the jeep that was being towed, ordered us to remove our shirts, sit on the floor and we complied.

"But as we raised up our hands and were shouting that we were not thieves, the man just turned and shot him at a close range on his right hand and the bullet entered his stomach. He was calling for help, that I should help him tie the hand where the blood was gushing out.

"While we pleaded for help to save his life, the policeman who shot him and his colleague ran away, there was no help and we were unable to get him to the hospital, so he died on the spot where he was shot. Actually there was no interrogation and we never argued with them, what they did was just to shoot."

Like Edewor, there are countless Nigerians who had in times past been victims of extra judicial killings. Unfortunately, the police have seemingly shunned their role as the watchdog of the society by their offensive and brazen acts of shooting citizens at the slightest provocation.

Instead of protecting, they have seemingly turned around to unleash terror on hapless citizens, an anomaly in every civilised society. In advanced societies, the police are seen as the hope for the common man and a resort to exerting justice but that has not been the case with the Nigeria Police.

Lagos Police Command Killer-cop Placed under Arrest

Once the news of the incident filtered in, the Lagos State Police Command immediately issued a warrant of arrest for the killer cop, one Otene Godwin with force no 355272 and arrested him. His service rifle was also collected from him.

Confirming the arrest, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said the incident occurred over the weekend along Alakija area of Festac Town. She said the suspect had abandoned his duty post as the Station Guard at Area ‘E’ Command and left for Alakija area where the unfortunate incident occurred, adding that he is already in police custody.

She said, "The Nigeria Police is a disciplined organisation and would never tolerate any act of indiscipline from its members. The circumstances surrounding the shooting incident are currently being investigated.

"Also, the state Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, has appealed to members of the public to remain calm and maintain peace as justice would definitely be done. He has also assured the deceased family that investigation would be concluded in good time and the report made public, while ensuring that justice is done.”

As at press time, Manko who was represented by the Area E Commander, ACP Okoro, paid a condolence visit to the deceased family, where he assured the them that the suspect was on his own and would answer for his sins.
He said,  "We are assuring you that justice must be done. We won't say because he is our own and cover him. Now, we must do the right thing and we will carry the family and the members of the public along with our investigation."

Bereaved Family Demands Justice

However, as with past incidents whereby such cases are swept under the carpet, the bereaved family who addressed journalists at their 5th Avenue residence, GH Close FESTAC Town, Lagos, called for justice. The deceased's brother in-law, Tony Emoekpere; his elder sister, Omokurie Emoekpere; Coordinator, Human Rights League of Nigeria, Dr. Godwin Okonkwo; his friend, Oyeleye Simeon and cousin, Olayinka Tijani all insisted that the police officer must be charged to the law court to explain why he fired the shot at close range that claimed Edewor’s life.

Emoekpere, who spoke on behalf of the grieving family members said the family have proof to show that it was a needless killing perpetrated by a "drunken" police officer who shot the deceased with the intent to take his life.

He added, "His hand was shattered. It was too grievious. He was allowed to bleed to death.  It rained all through the night yet his blood was still at the spot where he died the following day to show the extent of his bleeding. We cannot keep quiet and allow this to go. That someone will sit down on the floor, remove his cloth, raise his hands as the police ordered and then you shot him?"

Okonkwo, the human rights activist noted that the police in FESTAC are known to be very notorious. He vowed that civil society and human groups across Nigeria are going to be mobilised for mass action if there was any attempt by the police to sweep the case under the carpet or cover up for their colleague who got drunk and took the life of a promising young man.

He said, "Heads must roll. A young promising fellow engineer was just killed like that. Someone must be responsible for the drunken policeman. Someone must say why a drunk would have riffle with him. We cannot be suffering from Boko Haram in the North and yet the police will be terrorising us here.

"This is the third case of people killed in the same manner from the same police station. It is not even a case of murder, it is just a blatant case of murder by a police officer. Never again! We will make this a test case. It will be the last of such cases because we want justice."

Rising Concerns over Extra-judicial Murders

Brazen and incessant acts of extra-judicial killings by police officers especially in Lagos State have unsettled the public, who ordinarily expect the police to protect them. Recall the cases of 9-year-old Ebun Timilehin, Ugochukwu Ozuah, Ademola Aderinto, Afeez Obalangele and Gabriel  Nwainakpor, victims of extrajudicial killing, who are yet to get justice.

As at the last count, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF), Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, who spoke at a national dialogue on “torture, extra-judicial killings and national security”, marking the International Human Rights Day, said no fewer than 7,195 persons had died in the hands of the Police.

This incident has again brought to the fore the need to train and retrain police officers to have a human face, as well as respect the sanctity of life.