- Last Updated on 09 May 2015
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The Network of Police Reforms In Nigeria (NOPRIN) has demanded that the acting Inspector-General of Police immediately commence investigation into the whereabouts of a suspect who had been in the custody of the Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS, in Lagos since January.
The group which on Friday renewed its plea to Arase who is visiting Lagos state on Friday, said in the earlier petition that Afam Nriezedi, a Lagos resident, was arrested on 17th Friday January, 2015 by officers from the SARS and detained incommunicado since then.
The document, obtained by Huhuonline.com read: “The detaining authorities have denied his family members and legal representative access to him,” NOPRIN, a coalition of over 20 other groups, said in the petition dated 4th May.
“The accused person’s family members informed NOPRIN that the SARS operatives first trailed, double-crossed and arrested his two elder sisters, assaulted them for no just cause, seized their phones and forced them into their vehicle and asked them to lead them to where their brother was.
“None of the two women had any prior information or invitation from the police concerning any crime that their brother may have committed or any other reason for looking for him.
“The two traumatised women took the police officers to a hospital in Ikorodu, Lagos where their brother had gone for a surgery the previous day.
“One of the police officers, Abdurrahman (08062080913) later told the women that their brother was wanted for being in possession of four AK47 rifles belonging to the police.
“About two weeks after Afam Nriezedi’s arrest, his family members, to their utter chagrin, read a report in some newspapers, including SATURDAY INDEPENDENT of 31st January, 2015, page 9 claiming, this time, that the accused is an informant to a kidnap gang which allegedly kidnapped two prominent oil dealers in Lagos.
“The family members said they were perplexed because the initial information the police gave them which was that their brother was wanted allegedly being in possession of four AK 47 rifles belonging to the police contradicted the allegation published in newspapers,” NOPRIN said adding that since then, the suspect’s family had not been allowed to see him and ask him questions relating to the allegations.”
According to the petition, the suspect’s family members do not believe the allegations against him especially as “they are also aware that, for numerous reasons, SARS usually tortures innocent people to ‘confess’ to crimes they did not commit.”
NOPRIN’s Okechukwu Nwanguma said upon receiving the complaint on 27th April, 2015, he called the O/C SARS, Ikeja, Mr. Abba Kyari, and inquired from him about it adding that Kyari replied thus through a text message:
“My brother, he is a member of a kidnapping gang that kidnapped Mr. Ademola owner of Dapsy oil and Alh Fashola owner of Kings Oil. The arrest of Afam Nriezedi; Chukwube, Kelvin and etc was celebrated all over the news papers and television. We are still making serious efforts to arrest Ikechukwu and two others before they will form new gang to kidnapping innocent Citizens again. Thanks”
He said Kyari did not reply to further enquiries about the whereabouts of the accused but that the Investigative Police Officer, Abdurrahman, later sent a text message through 08062080913 saying: ‘is a transfer case sir.’
NOPRIN said it called the Principal Staff Officer to the IGP, Mr. Austin Ewa, urging him to assist in locating the accused person but that efforts to reach back to him for feedback has not yielded any success.
A NEW TWIST
Curiously, on Sunday May 3rd, 2015 one Prophet David Babalola, a self-styled General Overseer of His Presence Redemption Ministry, Ogba area of Lagos, called one of the accused person’s sisters, Mrs. Ngozi Nriezedi who worships in his church and informed her that some police officers from Abuja had come to Lagos to pick up a file relating to the case from SARS Ikeja. The ‘man of God’ told her that the officers would like to meet with any member of their family.
Mrs. Ngozi Nriezedi went to see the ‘man of God’ in his Church and he gave her one of his workers who took her to a hotel in Ikeja where she met a man who claimed to be police officer Patrick and who claimed that he was a member of the team from Abuja.
The said Police Officer Patrick asked Mrs. Ngozi Nriezedi to write a statement stating that her brother, Afam Nriezedi, was arrested in a beer parlour with members of his gang and that she should not mention that her family had given any money to Prophet David Babalola to assist them in ‘settling’ Abuja and securing her brother’s release. She said she could not write such a statement changing the facts of her brother’s case.
CONCERNS
NOPRIN said further in the petition: “Sir, you well know that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria presumes any person arrested and detained for any alleged crime as innocent until proved otherwise after a fair trial before a competent court. Any person detained for a crime is also entitled to be allowed access to family members, doctors and legal representatives. It is prejudicial to fair trial to try an accused person on the pages of newspapers without allowing the person the opportunity to appear before a court of competent jurisdiction to prove his innocence or otherwise.”
REQUEST
The organisation has requested the Inspector-General to direct the O/C SARS, Ikeja to grant the family of the detained person immediate access to him or disclose to them his whereabouts if he is no longer in the custody of SARS.
“NOPRIN further requests you, sir to order a prompt, impartial and exhaustive investigation into this case, with a view to: Ascertaining the true identity of the ‘police officers’ who claimed to have come from Abuja and who wanted the sister to the accused person to make false statements rewriting the facts of the case.
“Ascertaining the role of Apostle David Babalola (the General Overseer of His Presence Redemption Ministry, Ogba, Lagos), especially his involvement in brokering this curious meeting between the ‘police team from Abuja’ and the detainee’s family.
“Ascertain why the police officers chose to meet the detainee’s family in a hotel rather than at the police station.
“Ascertain the information we received from the family that Prophet David Babalola has so far deceitfully and fraudulently obtained from them the sum of over five million naira (N5,000,000.00), ostensibly to assist them to ‘settle some top management police officers in Abuja’ and secure the release of the suspect.”
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