Eight policemen attacked, tried to choke me -Activist

Ijeomah

Mr Justus Ijeomah, a human right activist, has narrated how policemen in Onitsha, Anambra State, attacked and allegedly attempted to choke him to death with his tie.

Recalling the attack as if it was yesterday, Ijeomah said: “They dragged me out of the police station gate and torn my trousers. While they were beating me outside, a police officer came and told them to take me back inside. He said that someone might video the attack. One of the policemen dragged me by my tie. I was almost choking to death.”

According to Ijeomah, trouble started after Mr. Nnaemeka Onyemobi, a welder, brought a complaint to the activist’s office, alleging that a woman issued him with a Dishonored Cheque.

Onyemobi explained that he gave an interest-free loan to the said woman, who promised to pay him back in two weeks. Onyemobi alleged that the woman later issued a post-dated cheque to him.

When the time came for the cheque to be cleared, the bank dishonored it. Since that February, Onyemobi had been making efforts to get his money from the woman, all to no avail.

Ijeomah said: “We wrote a petition on behalf of Onyemobi to the area commander, complaining about the case of the issuance of the Dishonored Cheque, which was a clear criminal offence. The Investigating Police officer (IPO) was corporal Chinedu. Instead of investigating the issue of dishonored cheque, the IPO took it upon himself to go into debt recovery.”

Onyemobi alleged that the IPO told him that he would take 10 percent of the money if he was able to recover it.

The matter was reported on April 28, 2017, but since then nothing had been done on it.  On June 2, 2017, Ijeomah went with Onyemobi to the police station to find out the progress of the case.

The IPO brought out N50, 000 to give to Onyemobi, stressing that the suspect brought it. Onyemobi rejected the money.

Ijeomah said: “I called the leader of the team, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ngozi. I complained about the manner the case was being handled. She asked us to come on June 5. When we saw her on the agreed date, she directed the IPO to call the suspect and scheduled an appointment with her.

“The IPO said the suspect would come by 10am the following day, which was June 6. The ASP asked us to return the following day.

“When we got to the station on Tuesday, we saw the ASP leaving the station. She said the area commander sent her on an errand to 3-3 area of Onitsha. She said that we should wait for her to return or see the IPO.

“She didn’t come back. We decided to see the IPO. He told us that the suspect had not come. I told him that the time was past 11am. A policewoman, working with the IPO interrupted the conversation, saying it was "African time." The IPO told her that she should not waste her time talking to us; that if we were not satisfied with what he was doing, we should leave his office.

“I told them that it was shocking that they were the ones making excuses for the suspect; that it confirmed that there was something going on behind the scene in the matter.”

This statement generated argument. An ASP, Onyilo, who was there, started shouting at Ijeomah. The human right activist retorted that he shouldn’t harass him.

Ijeomah recalled: “He started insulting me. He ordered me to leave the station. I told him that I was not in the station for nothing. He called on eight policemen to beat me.”

He said that was how his ordeal started.

Ijeomah added: “As one of them held me by the tie, another dragged my hands behind. I was stripped. They tore off one of the hands of my suit and forcibly removed the suit from my body. I was bleeding from my left ear. They collected everything on me; money, diary, phones, car key and wristwatch. One of my phones got broken. One of the officers said that it had been long they had been targeting me. One of the senior officers, whom I can identify, asked them to dump me in the cell and take me to court the following morning.”

As they were pushing him into the cell, orders came from the area commander. He instructed that Ijeomah should be brought to his office.

Ijeomah recounted: “I was almost about to collapse. The second in command to the area command, a woman, asked me to sit on the floor. The area command said that she should allow me to finish the "drama." It was clear that the officers who did that to me had the backing of the boss. I managed to tell them that I should be taken to the hospital that I was dying. It was then the AC asked them to take me to the hospital.

“They wanted to take me to Police Clinic, but I was afraid that they might kill me there. I requested to be taken to Onitsha General Hospital. After they delayed for about 30 minutes, I was taken to the hospital. I was not treated as there was no money to pay for hospital card. They were with all my money. Treatment only commenced after Barrister Akachukwu, one of our lawyers, arrived at the hospital and made the necessary payments.”