Monday, October 10, 2016

‘How police tortured, remanded me in prison’

Mr. Onyekachi Mbazuigwe has revealed his harrowing experience in the hands of policemen attached to the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID), Edo State. 

Mbazuigwe, 36, said that he was arrested, tortured and remanded in prison for a crime he didn’t commit or know anything about.
He said his sojourn in prison, however, opened his eyes to many atrocities, especially incarceration of minors with hardened criminals and suspected armed robbers. He said: “I’ve been through hell. There are too many innocent people in prison. Something should be done about them.
There are also too many minors in prison, sharing prison with criminals. It’s not good.” According to him, even though the court has acquitted him, he still continues to have nightmares and memories of policemen hanging him mid air, with his hands and legs tied behind him. While thanking his lucky star for being alive to narrate his ordeal, he said he wouldn’t rest until he finds justice. He said justice means suing the Nigeria Police Force.
He also wants the policemen that arrested and tortured him to admit they made a mistake and apologise. Mbazuigwe’s troubles started in February 2014. He was arrested by the Edo State Police Command on allegation that he stole a Toyota Camry car, valued at N600,000.
It would later be discovered that the car in question was stolen in 2013, thus, there was no way Mbazuigwe could have stolen the same car in 2014. On September 23, 2016, 31 months after his detention in prison, Edo State Magistrates Court 7, dismissed the charges against Mbazuigwe, stressing that the submissions of the police prosecutor lacked logicality.https://newtelegraphonline.com/police-tortured-remanded-prison/

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