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TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
September 28, 2016, would remain evergreen in the life of a 38-year-old woman, Wuche Ajuru. It was a day man’s inhumanity was meted out to her innocent son, Happiness Ajuru, who experienced cruelty and oppression in the hands of some policemen in Rivers State.
Wuche, a native of Ndele community in Emohua Local Government Area of the state narrated the pathetic tale of how her 23-years-old son was arrested by policemen at Ogbakiri junction in Emohua LGA and taken to Rumuji Police Station in the area.
The distraught woman, a farmer, through her lawyer Ransome Charles Worgu, has petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to unravel the circumstances surrounding the mysterious execution of her son by policemen.
On that fateful day, she said that somebody informed her about the arrest of her son by policemen. Consequently, she abandoned all she was doing and ran to the Divisional Police Station in Rumuji, to inquire about his offence.
Two years after the boy is believed to have been extra-judicially executed while in custody, police authorities in the state have continued to dribble her. She was made to pass through emotional, psychological and parental trauma, without anyone coming forth on the whereabouts of her son.
Not only that, after she was made to pay N60,000 for her son’s bail, he was still not released. At a point, police, through one of the natives, Okechukwu Eleonu, alleged to be working for the then Divisional Police Officer, whose name could not be ascertained, asked the mother of the victim to be fuelling their vehicle, whenever they claimed they were going out to investigate the matter.
Police made the devastated poor woman to visit several police stations and prisons in Rivers and Bayelsa States in search of her only child, which she gave birth to when she was just 15 years.
As Sunday Sun learnt from her, the Rumuji Divisional Police Station where Happiness was detained could not give a vivid account of what happened to the suspect kept in its custody.
While Wuche was passing through the trauma, the then DPO was transferred to Edo State and promoted to head the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in the state.
Investigations around the community showed that the young man was a commercial motorcyclist before he left it to go full time in preaching the gospel. Sources in the community who requested not to be mentioned testified that Happiness, unlike youths of his age, did not have any trace of criminal record in the area. They said that since he was arrested, the police had not disclosed the offence he committed.
Explaining further, Wuche said her son was not involved in any criminal act in the area: “To the best of my knowledge, I was told that my son was found with a mobile handset and N49,000 in cash. I asked about the Investigative Police Officer (IPO), handling the matter, whose name was given as Akpante.
“When I met him, I requested to bail my son. He told me to come back the following day, saying that the matter was under investigation. The next day, I went back with one of my husband’s relatives, who incidentally is also a policeman called Ohaka. Ohaka asked Happiness what was his offence. He said that he did not commit any crime, that the police arrested him with N49,000 in cash and a phone.
“Later, Ohaka met again with the IPO, who said the matter was still under investigation. Incidentally, Ohaka and Akpante had served together in one of the police formations in the state, and they exchanged phone numbers.”
It was gathered that based on Ohaka and Akpante’s contacts, Wuche left. But, unfortunately and unknown to her, Eleonu was alleged to be working discreetly for the then DPO. According to her, it was Eleonu that demanded some money for the police to facilitate the purported investigation.
Further investigation revealed that on the fateful day, Eleonu, who was alleged to have several criminal matters hanging on his neck, was spotted in the same patrol vehicle with the policemen that apprehended the deceased.
Sunday Sun also gathered from the family of the deceased, that Eleonu owed him over N200,000, and had refused to pay. But, nobody could confirm if the monetary issue resulted to any misgivings between them before that September 16.
She continued: “I was told that Okechukwu Eleonu was close to the then DPO. He asked me to bring N5,000 to give the police as transport fare for the policemen that arrested my son. Later, Eleonu went to meet the policemen. Then he came back and demanded the sum of N60,000 from me.”
Wuche said she paid the N60,000 in instalments because she could not raise the amount in bulk. She disclosed that she had to sell some personal items to raise part of the money.
She said: “On the day I paid the last amount, I asked Eleonu, why I could not go with him to meet the Police. He said that if we go together, the DPO would not accept the N60,000 again from me; that he may likely increase the amount. He said he would give me transport fare back home. I waited and waited to get feedback from him but no word came from him. When I called his number, the call did not go through.”
After waiting for five days without any information coming, either from the police or Eleonu, Wuche was advised to go back to the police station.
She takes up the tale: “But when I went back to the police station, I did not see my son. I became worried and afraid. I tried to inquire from the station about the whereabouts of my son. Somebody told me that around 2am some policemen took my son out of the cell in conjunction with another young man; the person said that they had not been seen since that time.
“It was at this point that I became very apprehensive and wondered what could be the problem. Then I decided to consult a lawyer, who wrote a petition to the DPO. The then DPO invited me and asked if I could recognize any of the policemen that interacted with me. I replied in the affirmative.”
Suddenly, Wuche said, the police twisted the story and she was left dumbfounded when the DPO asked if the petition she wrote was not a ploy to cover the allegation against her, that she had kidnapped Eleonu.
As the matter progressed, the woman got information that Eleonu, who the DPO had claimed was abducted, had been visiting the community at night and leaving early in the morning.
Sunday Sun further gathered that after all efforts to trace the whereabouts of her son proved abortive, Wuche then petitioned the State Commissioner of Police, who ordered for the arrest of Akpante and Eleonu.
“They were arrested and interrogated. But before we could know what was happening, Eleonu and his group wrote a petition and the matter was transferred to Zone 6, Calabar, Cross River State. I was invited to Zone 6, but I said I did not have money to finance the matter.
Her lawyer, Worgu, said that when he came into the matter, he had to petition the IGP because the life of a human was involved. He added that a copy of the petition was also delivered and received at Zone 6 and acknowledged.
Worgu pointed out that since the petition was written, there was no response from the police authorities until the report got to public domain. He told Sunday Sun that recently, a team from the IGP Monitoring Unit attached to the Oyigbo Police Division invited Wuche.
His words: “I went to the police station with her, where they took statements. The team was able to know that my client is very poor. They even paid her transport fare back home. While we were going, we were made to understand that another group of policemen went to her house. We had to refer them to the IGP squad in Oyigbo. They insisted on seeing her somewhere in Aluu, but she refused.
Given what transpired, the insistence of the police to see my client, the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in-charge of Oyigbo invited them to the station. While at the station, the ACP inquired about Ohaka and his contact, as well as the steps he had taken in the case.
“He also asked if we could provide anybody, who could identity the victim in police cell. One young man, Wilson, from Emohua community was able to confirm that Happiness was detained in the police cell.
“We later gathered that Eleonu, Akpante and Williams were arrested. But, to our greatest surprise, on Wednesday, January 31, 2018, when my client was coming to Port Harcourt, she saw William extorting money from motorists along Oduoha junction, in Emohua.
“She called to inform me about that. I was surprised. We thought the man was equally arrested based on the information they gave us. But to our greatest disappointment, the young man (William) was not arrested. It was the same William that was seen wearing the slippers of my client’s son, which he wore the day he was arrested. The mother was able to identify the slippers because she bought the pair for him. It was the same William that threatened my client, when the matter was at the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) that he would kill her the same way the police killed her son.
“If people of this nature are given opportunity to go free within the society and commit mayhem, it means that the society will be in a chaotic situation. What we are saying is that this is not the state of nature, where people will kill others without any reprimand. It is based on that, that we want the entire world to know what is happening in the society. Police are not doing their investigation thoroughly. Otherwise, how can William and others who are involved in a murder case be allowed to move about? I still maintain that they are not handling the matter the way it is supposed to be,” Worgu said.
He demanded: “If the young man in question (Happiness) is dead, let them tell us where he was buried. We cannot bring him back to life. The mother is not asking for any monetary compensation. There is no amount of money that can be equated to human life.
“We were equally made to understand that Okechukwu Eleonu has been released. We do not know why he was released. From the information my client has just given, police are inviting her to Force Headquarters, Abuja. This is a woman that cannot even pay transport fare to reach police formations within the State and Zone 6, Calabar, Cross River State. How can she get money to transport herself to Abuja? In whose house would she stay?” Worgu asked.
“We are only asking that justice should take its course; the IGP should order for thorough investigation of this matter. Can you imagine the kind of trauma the woman is passing through?”
Wuche added: “I want the police to show me where they buried my son. God will judge the person that killed my son, my only child.”
