A mother of two, Mrs. Promise Ani who alleged that her husband was tortured to death by Police, has asked the Inspector General of Police to investigate his death.
Her husband, Ikechukwu, was according
to her, tortured to death by the anti-cult unit of the Enugu State
police command, Guardian reports.
Ikechukwu, a trader at Ogbete
main market, Enugu, died on Sunday January 13, this year at an
undisclosed hospital, two days after his release following alleged
injuries he received while in police custody.
He was said to have
been forcefully arrested at about 2.am on January 6, this year at his
residence in Obeagu- Awkunanaw, Enugu south council by men of the
anti-cult unit, who smashed doors of their building and allegedly
whisked him away.
Narrating the incident, his pregnant wife,
Promise, explained that it had to do with an allegation bothering on
threat to life, said to have been made by the late husband against a
police officer.
“My husband never issued such threat. They
leveled the allegation to deal with him. Unfortunately, it has resulted
to his death”, Promise said amid tears, at their residence in Obeagu-
Awkunanaw.
She said in the event of investigation revealing that
her late husband issued the threat; it was “not enough for policemen to
torture him for four days without food in their cell”.
She added:
“When
they released him to us, he was already looking frail and could barely
talk. But he told me that they used nails on his head and chest. He also
said that for four days, he was starved of food; as they could not
allow us feed him.
She alleged that since her husband died, the
police had made monetary advances to the family; persuade them to bury
him, adding however that they refused “as doing so will bury the
evidence against the police.”
“Right now we have been moving the
corps from one mortuary to the other to avoid tampering with his body
which shows clear evidences of the level of torture they subjected him
to”, she stated
In a petition to the Inspector General of Police,
the family of the deceased had appealed for a thorough investigation of
the activities of anti-cult unit in Enugu.
The family alleged
that it was a case of extra-judicial killing and also appealed for the
investigation of alleged bribe the family offered the police before the
late Ani was released to the family.
Reacting on the development,
Enugu State Police Public Relations Officer, Ebere Amaraizu said
although the matter had not officially been brought to his knowledge, it
would be investigated.
“We can’t throw it to the wind, we would
find out what happened. We will check the circumstance and I can assure
you that whoever is indicted will not go unpunished. It is a very
unfortunate incidence, the CP doesn’t condone such act,” Amaraizu said.
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