Authorities of the Nigerian Police Force have been prayed to thoroughly investigate the circumstances leading to the illegal arrest and cold-blooded murder of one Mr. Ibiam Ogbonnaya Ibiam of Ezeke Amasiri in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
A petition by concerned members of the community written on behalf of Messrs Stanley Eze Anya and Chukwu Oko Chukwu through their lawyer, Mudi Erhenede & Associates "Delta Chambers" to the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zonal Police Headquarters, Umuahia, Abia State made available to journalists in detailed allegations of conspiracy and torture of the said 62-year-old victim, Ibiam to death allegedly by some overzealous Police Officers serving in the Ebonyi State Police Command.
According to the petition, the crime of the deceased unsuspecting victim, Ibiam Ogbonnaya Ibiam who was the Chairman of Uke Ezeke Ruling Council was that in his official capacity, he and some other members of the community were approached by the family of Late Ikpe Oko Ekuma who was shot dead by some youths who have since been on the run in the course of celebrating their Mgbambu cultural festival in the community on the 3rd of October, 2021.
"That the widow of the deceased Ikpe Oko Ekuma and other principal members of his family approached the leaders of the community (as led by the now-deceased victim, Ibiam Ogbonnaya Ibiam) to assist them in arrangement to bury the said deceased person who has been in the mortuary since October 2021.
That discussions were still ongoing in the said community about the said request when the leaders of the community received a letter from one Barr. Samuel A. Okporie Esq warning against the burial of the said deceased person", the petition informed.
It also claimed that the deceased Ibiam Ogbonnaya Ibiam, a father of four, was beaten mercilessly with pieces of planks and that he sustained life-threatening injuries all over his body and head and when he slumped, the policemen in question put him in the back of the seat of the pickup van that they came in and drove off to Abakaliki.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
The petitioners further disclosed that also beaten, arrested, and put in handcuffs was one Mr. Oko Egwu Etu, a brother of the now-deceased person who could not bear the cry and anguish of his brother and approached the Policemen to plead for mercy but ended up being brutalized as well.
Ibiam Ogbonnaya Ibiam now lies at the mortuary of Mater Hospital Afikpo with clear marks of his torture and beatings all over his body while the policemen in question have been desperately trying to distort the facts that led to his death.
The petitioners, therefore, prayed to the zonal Police authorities to "use your good offices to cause the investigation of the circumstances that led to the cold-blooded murder of Mr. Ibiam Ogbonnaya Ibiam to bring all those (whether policemen or private citizens) responsible for his untimely death to book"
