A victim of police brutality by the defunct SARS Friday pleaded with the independent investigative panel on Human Rights Violations by the defunct SARS and other units of the police sitting in Abuja to enforce his fundamental rights having been allegedly detained and tortured unlawfully by some operatives of the force.
Francis Ogbajiin his petition before the panel said he worked as a security guard at Bayelsa House, Federal secretariat, Abuja.
According to him, trouble started on the 11 of April 2020 when he and three of his colleagues were invited to the central police station following a report of the theft of some items in the area they were guarding.
He said that some of the missing items for which they were arrested include a television set, banner, refrigerator, and some documents from one of the offices in the building where they were securing.
He informed the panel that upon arrival at the police station that they were detained by the DPO central police station federal secretariat Abuja as a suspect for the missing items.
Continuing, he told the panel that his family members applied for his bail and the DPO set the bail conditions which they eventually met on the 13th of Aprill.2020.
Surprisingly, he stated that the DPO without giving any reason transferred his case file to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) of the FCT Police Command, Garki Abuja. The complainant said he was thereafter detained at the SARS facility near abattoir on the order of ACP Mantu of SCID FCT.
The complainant said he hired Nnaemeka Duhu Esq of Jimmy and Jimmy associates to secure his release on bail on the 28th of April, 2020.
Again, said the bail condition at SCID was met as stipulated by law and he was still not released.
According to him, his counsel had to approach the authorities and was told they would have to wait for the nominal complainant before he could be released on bail.
Duhu queried why they have to wait for an individual before a suspect who has met his bail conditions could be released, but he was ignored.
Ogbaji disclosed he was detained without proper feeding and that he was tortured with his head down and two legs up.
According to him, he sustained some injury as a result of the handcuffs on his wrist he was asked to confess to stealing the items or face death which he refused.
The complainant also suffered untold hardship as a result of the arrest; he lost his job and all interviews he attended after the incident were not successful.
He, therefore, prayed the panel to compel the police to write an apology letter to him to prove to his intending employers that he knew nothing about the robbery incident.
In his testimony Ebu Peter Ogar an elder brother of the complainant corroborated his testimony but he told the police that the victim had lived with him for 4 years and never stolen a pin.
Counsel to the police Fidelis Ogobe pleaded for an adjournment to open defence and made enquiry on the names the complainant mentioned.
GarbaTetengi SAN who stood in for the chairman has ordered Mr Fidelis Ogobe to bring in the IPO of the case using the case file.
The matter was adjourned to 15th March, 2021 for continuation.
