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Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
The apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, the Ohaneze Indigbo, has given the Rivers State Police Command a seven day ultimatum to bring officers who tortured an automobile technician identified as Chima Ikwunado to death or face court action and mass protest.
The Publicity Secretary of Ohaneze Indigbo in Rivers State, Felix Onwuma ,who made the position of the group known on Tuesday in Port Harcourt also called for the immediate release of four persons allegedly tortured alongside the late Ikwunado currently in jail over alleged framed up charges.
He also asked the Police to release those arrested during protests over the torture of late Chima to death on Monday in Port Harcourt.
Also, Motor spare parts dealers and Motor Mechanics in Ikokwu, Mile One, Two Diobu have given the a one-week ultimatum to the Police to provide the killers of their colleague, Chima Ikwunado or face a statewide peaceful protest.
The Chairman of Rivers State Ikokwu Motor Spare parts dealers association, Anthony Iwu, who gave threat said they cannot continue to condone the unlawful arrests, detention, extortion and torturing of their members unchallenged.
As people keep asking for justice for Late Chima Ikwunado, the Mechanic, there are indications that the case file reads the names of 4 of the persons arrested alongside Chima and one person,(Chima) is at “Large”.
A member of Civil Societies organization who want to remain anonymous for now, queries: “How can a case file of a dead person read that he is “at large after the Police had claimed that he died of diabetes while the other four were arraigned on frivolous charges of cultism at a magistrate court in Port Harcourt?”
Elder brother to the late Ikwunado, Anthony, has narrated that the family members were unable to trace Chima in police cell while in detention.
According to him, some suspects released from the police unit had confirmed that the late Chima was in critical condition at time of their release.
He also added that the family of late Chima were unable to raise the N200,000 allegedly requested by the Police after they had earlier paid N90,000 to the police.
He insisted that late Chima was tortured to death by men of the E-Crack Unit of of Mile One Police and declared that his younger brother does not have any medical record of being diabetic as claimed by the police.
He also denied reports that the deceased had any known hypertension as claimed in the police autopsy report.
Mr. Ikwunado said, ‘’Late Chima’s medical report never confirmed him as a diabetic patient. Why won’t I know if my junior brother suffers diabetes when we live in the same compound, since Police have done autopsy and said Chima died of high sugar level, they should release the corpse to us so that we can also carry out our own autopsy, and bury him because Chima deserves to rest in peace not at the Mortuary’’.
Meanwhile, Dr Ritchard Wokocha, a constitutional lawyer and Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law of the Rivers State University, has said that he was not surprised that the Police imagemaker was quick at absolving his colleagues of any guilt even when their crimes are so obvious to discerning minds.
Dr Wokocha said the alleged autopsy report cannot stand: “You cannot conduct autopsy without the presence of the relations of the deceased. You are accused of torturing to death a suspect, you allegedly conducted autopsy without the knowledge of surviving relations”.