Policemen Hang Man Upside Down, Brutalise Him With Matchetes After Labelling Him Sponsor Of ESN Militants
Policemen Hang Man Upside Down, Brutalise Him With Matchetes After Labelling Him Sponsor Of ESN Militants
A civic group, the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has asked Nigerian Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, to investigate the alleged torture of a man, identified Okechukwu Sunday by the anti-kidnapping unit of the Imo State Police Command.
This was contained in a release on Thursday, by Okechukwu Nwanguma, RULAAC executive director, claiming that the victim was wrongly profiled as a sponsor of Eastern Security Network.
The statement reads: “Family members of one Okechukwu Sunday Obi from Ihiteuboma in Imo State today March 9, 2023 have informed RULAAC that Okechukwu Sunday Obi has been subjected to brutal torture at the cell of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of Imo State Police Command, Owerri. He has been hung upside down for hours, flogged and hit with machetes causing him bleeding with bruises and injuries all over his body. His life is in danger.
“We are informed that Okechukwu Sunday Obi had on7th of July 2022 reported a case of threat at the Monitoring Unit of the State Command, against his two brothers, Chigbo Sunday Obi and Chukwudi Obi.
“The Monitoring Unit, sequel to this, invited Chukwudi and Chigbo. While Chukwudi reported, made statement and was released on bail, Chigbo refused to report to the Monitoring Unit but instead went to the Anti-Kidnapping Unit and lodged a complaint against the complainant at the Monitoring Unit alleging that he was a sponsor of the ESN.
“Based on this allegation, which the accused has denied, the Anti-Kidnapping unit on 7th March, 2023 went to his house in Port Harcourt and arrested him and took along with them his two jeeps. He has, since the past two days, been subjected to brutal torture at the Anti-Kidnapping Unit.
“Despite being informed of the true facts of the case, and without crosschecking with the Monitoring Unit, the operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit have continued to engage in abuse and violence against an accused person.
“The excesses of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of Imo State Police Command have been several times reported to the Commissioner of Police, Imo State and the Inspector General of Police. But these reports and complaints have been ignored and the operatives are thereby emboldened to continue in their excesses and atrocities.”
As a result, the civic group demanded that the IGP order an end to the use of torture as a tool for police crime investigation.
The statement reads further: “RULAAC calls for an investigation into this particular case of torture of an accused person in violation of the Constitution, the Police Act and the Anti Torture Act.
“RULAAC calls for the disbandment of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, Imo State Police Command and an investigation into the criminal activities of operatives of that Unit.”
