A Police witness before the Independent Investigative panel on Human Rights Violations by the defunct SARS and other Units of the Nigerian police Force, DSP Aminu Sokoto on Thursday told the panel how a complainant, Samson Abouderin has labeled him an armed robber before the National Human Rights Commission on two occasions.
Sokoto, a criminal investigator with the IGP Monitoring unit testified before the panel how it all started sometime in 2019 when a petition was written to the Inspector General of police by one Pastor Maxwell Okaura and it was minuted to him for investigation.
According to Aminu the complainant has labelled him so many names including arm robbery and that necessitated the NHRC accompany Samson to the Force headquarters to lay complaint and the complaint response team of the police investigated the matter and he was allegedly exonerated of the charge against him.
Narrating further he told the panel how Samson during investigation told him he is a staff of presidential Initiative on North East which is under the office of the vice president.
According to the police witness, in the course of his investigation, DSP Aminu wrote a letter to the office of the Vice President seeking for clarification on the complainant.
Following this, a letter was written from the office signed by the vice chairman of the presidential committee that Samson was not a staff of the office.
Aminu said investigations were concluded and the following was established against him: impersonation perjury and the report of the investigation was sent to the police legal department for advice.
CSP Ijeoma according to Sokoto advised that the complainant be charged to court.
Furthermore, the criminal investigator said the complainant also told the panel that in his petition that he and Barr. Ijeoma pointed a gun at him, he told the panel that he has never met or worked with Ijeoma and that they only met at the court during the process of hearing the Complainant’s case.
On the other hand, counsel to the complainant Austin Okpe told the panel that his client was charged for impersonation, conspiracy and perjury which he is seeking to clear and his pleading with the panel to investigate into the allegations and establish the truth.
Also testifying as witness Maxwell Okaura told the panel that the complainant came to him for an advanced quick cash loan which he gave him and he later came for more but he couldn’t pay and an agreement was reached for his car to be sold.
Samson abouderin is before the panel in the case of alleged abuse of police powers, harassment ,incessant arbitrary arrest and disobedience of court orders by personnel of IGP.
