Extrajudicial killings: Story of SARS and robbery suspects (1)

STORY FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2014

 The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) are men of an elite police group, whose main responsibility is to combat armed robbery. They are the life blood of any police station and Command. But questions are being asked about the disappearance of citizens arrested and detained in SARS’ custody. In this investigation that spanned states in Nigeria, running into months, JULIANA FRANCIS highlights the agonies of parents, whose wards have disappeared in SARS’ cells. 

 

 

Travelling may mean different things to different people. But to men of the Special Anti- Robbery Squad, (SARS), an arm of the Nigeria Police Force, ‘to travel’ means to kill a suspect in detention. Hundreds of robbery suspects, if not thousands, who had been arrested and taken to SARS, have been killed extra-judicially.

Most times, some are not even robbery suspects, but suspects arrested for other crimes. Many (both the innocent and presumed guilty) die through torture; others are shot point blank because they were deemed as, ‘confirmed robbers.’ The stories differ from station to station, case to case, with some members of the families of some victims still hoping that the dead would come back from detention. The family members are busy visiting prayer houses, native doctors, diviners and spiritualists without any knowledge that the subject has crossed over to the other side of the world.
‘Police should give me my son, dead or alive- Ngozi Ejike
The latest addition to the growing pile of corpses from the SARS, Ikeja, Lagos State, is 19-year-old Chigozie Ejike. He was killed in his prime. Young Ejike disappeared from police detention in March 2013 and it took almost three months to discover that he had been killed. It was difficult to explain to his parents that policemen tortured and killed their son.
A member of their church, Chief Michael Igbokwe had to break the news. Investigation into Chigozie’s disappearance started after Chief Igbokwe saw the boy’s mother, Ngozi Ejike, tearing her hair and rolling on ground at the popular Iyana-Oba market, where she sells vegetable and crayfish by the roadside. That was the day she had just been told by a policeman to “go home and forget that your son.”
She was like a demented woman, crying that she could not understand how her son vanished from police cell. Chigozie, a secondary school leaver, was arrested around the period an upcoming music star, Olaniyan Damilola, popularly known as Damino Damoche was killed by cult members at the Lagos State University, Ojo, campus. The musician was an undergraduate at the university.
Determined to fish out the faceless killers because a lot of noise was made after his murder, policemen went on series of raids. About 75 youths were arrested by policemen in Lagos State and later transferred to SARS, Ikeja. Chigozie was one of those arrested. He lived with his parents around the Ojo area. He grew up and had friends around that axis. His mother, who was deep into religion and at tends the popular Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church, said that she truly believed that her young son was a cultist after she discovered that he had started drawing tattoo on his body. Chigozie was arrested with two of his friends; Bright Johnson and Ekene Bide, both 19 year olds, just like Chigozie. They were arrested by Ilemba Hausa Policemen and later transferred to SARS Ikeja. Before they were transferred however, the young boys were tortured.
It was when it became clear that one of them was going to die, (Chigozie), that the policemen quickly bundled them to SARS Ikeja. One of the police personnel who was on ground, on the day the three lads were bundled to SARS told New Telegraph: “I was on ground the day the boys were brought to SARS. They were three of them. One was barely breathing. We all knew he was going to die anyway. One of the senior policemen at SARS was very angry when he saw that the third boy was dying. I remember he yelled at the policemen that brought the boys. “He asked them ‘why did you bring this one? Can’t you see that he is almost dead? You should have thrown him away somewhere’.”
Chigozie eventually died at SARS, but nobody, except his killers, knows where his corpse is today. And his parents, who are yet to know, continue to search for him, praying and hoping that he will come home soon. Chigozie’s two friends have also disappeared from detention. A picture of the three boys, taken by the police before their death was discovered by New Telegraph. The picture of the boys was taken, with guns placed in front of them. It soon became clear that the picture was taken after the policemen knew that Chigozie was going to die. In the picture, Chigozie was lying on the ground unconscious; he didn’t know he was being photographed or that a gun was placed in front of him. Our investigation started from the Ilemba Hausa Police Station, which first arrested the boys.
The Area Commander, Mr. Soyemi Adesina confirmed the arrest. He, however, said that the case had been transferred to SARS. It was however a senior police officer, attached to this same station, who raised the suspicion that something about Chigozie’s arrest and disap-pearance was wrong. The policeman’s name is simply ASP Sonny. He was the person who told the missing boy’s parents to ‘forget about’ the boy. When the mother heard that unsettling news, she ran like a mad person into the market, fell on the ground, rolling on dusty ground, asking mournfully “How am I supposed to just forget my son? How can a 19-yearold boy disappear from police detention?
How do I even begin to forget?” New Telegraph visited Ngozi at the noisy Iyana-Oba. She had the traditional Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church green uniform on. Beneath the uniform, she was in skirt and blouse. She appeared far composed than her husband, who was physically shaking, no doubt, dreading what could have happened to their son. The meeting took place in a shop owned by another church member. Ngozi tells her story: “It was exactly on March 2, 2013, that my husband got a call from a friend, who told him that he saw my son Chigozie and two other boys being led by policemen into Ilemba Hausa Police Station.
The friend told my husband that our son was arrested during a police raid at Ajamgbadi area. My husband called me. We called Chigozie’s phone repeatedly, but it was not going. In fact, it was switched off.” The father, Richard Ejike, 56, a bricklayer, had since the disappearance of the boy, stopped going to work. He said: “I can’t work. I have lost appetite for food. I want to know what happened to my son. If he’s dead, I want to know and I want his corpse. If he’s alive, then police should allow me to see him.”
Even though he was too sick with worries to tell his story, Richard repeatedly interjected. “I went to the police station on a Sunday. I met ASP Sonny. He told me that the boys had been transferred to SARS Ikeja. He asked me to come back on Tuesday, that he would give me the phone number of the man who went away with the boys. “On Monday, I went to SARS. I told them I was looking for my son. I gave them his name.
A policeman told me that the name of my son was not in the register of those in the cells. I left there at almost nightfall. On Tuesday, I went back to Ilemba Hausa Police Station to see ASP Sonny. It was then he told me to forget about my son.
But whether Chigozie is dead or alive, my wife and I just need to see him. We need to know what had become of him. His siblings are worried too. While searching for Chigozie, New Telegraph met with the head of SARS, Mr. Abba Kyarri. After explaining the difficulty in trying to locate Chigozie, Kyarri said that the boy was still in detention. He added that the parents could come over the following day to bail him. A call was put to the parents.
They were happy. But more pains and disappointment were in store for the couple. The following day, the parents bought new clothes, drugs and tons of fruits. The idea was to feed and give him a change of clothing. But after visits to different cells, Chigozie was not in any of the cells. The parents were devastated. The mother collapsed on the ground at Police Command, Ikeja, broke down and wept bitterly.
Kyarri later explained that there 

She had taken to visiting churches, mosques and spiritual homes, where she had been told repeatedly that Taiwo is ‘hale and hearty’ and will soon come home. Mrs. Titi Agnes Egbayeyomi, Taiwo’s mother resides in the Alagbado area of the state. When New Telegraph, got in touch with her, it was tough trying to get her to speak. There was so much suspicion around the house. But Taiwo’s younger brother, Idowu Egbayeyomi, intervened. Taiwo’s son, Moses, was just two weeks old when his father was killed, but today, he is six-year-old, already in primary one. Mrs. Egbayeyomi, with tear- filled eyes, said that little Moses had started asking questions of where his father is, and when he would come home. Moses could not understand why his father had refused to come home and see him, even if it’s just for once. The mother of the boy-Taiwo’s wife-bolted after she waited for the return of her husband from police detention for months to no avail. Mrs. Egbayeyomi said that the last thing she heard about her daughterin- law, was that the lady had remarried. Taiwo was arrested when he was about to enter his Audi 80 vehicle at Amuwo Odofin Estate area of Lagos. The reason for Taiwo’s arrest by SARS men came in two versions. The first allegation was that he offended a top police officer, who vowed to deal with him severely and the second version is vague. It was what he heard after he was taken to SARS office at Ikeja. It was alleged that men of the police force told him that they heard he had money and was fond of throwing money around. They told him that they wanted their ‘own share’ of the money. Before his family could intervene, Taiwo had been labelled an armed robber. Mrs. Egbayeyomi was allegedly asked to cough out N100, 000 for her son’s release. But Taiwo had kicked against that insisting that he had committed no crime and would rather die than give his mother consent to part with such an amount of money. Mrs. Egbayeyomi made efforts to see the officer in charge of SARS back then, Mr. Gaji Abana. She told him how his men were demanding N100, 000 from her. Gaji attempted calling his men to order, but it apparently didn’t work. If anything, it exacerbated the problem for Taiwo and his mother. The move by the mother angered the SARS men and Mrs. Egbayeyomi was quickly roped in as a female robber, who used to keep guns for her ‘son’s gang of robbers.’ To add salt to her wounds, she was paraded as a robber in front of a motley crowd of journalists. One of the SARS men, identified as Mr. Ola, was said to have written a statement on Taiwo’s behalf and ordered him to sign it. Mrs. Egbayeyomi, in her mid 60s, spoke of her ordeal in the hands of SARS men. She said: “I was completely stripped naked and thoroughly beaten to the point of death. They used the butt of their guns to hit me repeatedly on the head. They also arrested my daughter, who was an undergraduate. She came to check on her elder brother, Taiwo. They tortured us too much. They chained the three of us and ordered us to be calling one another armed robber! Armed robber!! Armed robber!!! At a point, I thought I would die. That I didn’t die was a sheer miracle. I knew they meant to kill me!” She continued: “I was called aside to confess that I am a godmother to armed robbers, that armed robbers usually bring their stolen goods to me after any robbery operation. They said if I could say that, they would release my Taiwo and also allow me to go. “I refused! I couldn’t do that. Immediately I shouted NO! I got another round of beating. One of the SARS men, Mr. Abass, slapped me so hard that I couldn’t see for a while. They hit me with the butt of their guns and broke one of my hands.” She was detained for five days. It was five days of hell. During those days in detention, she was repeatedly beaten and handcuffed to compel her to ‘confess to being a robber.’ She said that she fainted on several occasions during the assaults. Mrs. Egbayeyomi recalled with a bitter look on her face: “I was paraded before journalists, with guns and charms placed in my front. My photographs were also taken. Taiwo was also paraded as an armed robber. Since that experience, I no longer believe any armed robbery story I read in the papers or watch on television. They’re all lies!” But the SARS story does not end in Lagos. It is the same story in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and Awka in Anambra State. Family members of victims, who were killed in SARS detention or disappeared from police detention in Port Harcourt, are filled with trepidation and suspicion of everyone and anything. According to many of them, they learnt to be careful after they started receiving threatening text messages from unknown persons. These messages started coming after they took steps to seek justice for the murder of their children and loved ones. Police wasted my son’s life – Mrs Catherine Ako One of such people is Mrs. Catherine Akor, a trader in Port Harcourt. Her son, Michael Akor was killed by a policeman in June, 22, 2009, while in detention. Michael was killed with his friend, Michael Igwe. But for a while, Mrs. Akor did not know that Michael had been killed. The ‘disappearance’ of Michael from SARS’ cell was like a horror movie to his mother. One moment, he was in police detention, the next moment, news came that he had been killed. When Akor was arrested, his friend Igwe was with him. After Akor was killed, Igwe was also shot and killed to cover up the crime. New Telegraph met with Mrs. Akor on July, 13, 2013, in front of Kilimanjaro eatery, Port Harcourt. According to her, since the death of Michael, things had never been the same in her home. Her husband, a retired Shell staff, went into shock and till date, is like a shadow of himself. She said that he was like someone who had lost his memory. She said: “Michael is the fourth among my children. He sold recharge cards in large quantities and even had a sales girl. The girl sells cards and makes phone calls for him. He was just 29 when police wasted his life. Every morning, once he eats, he leaves home for his shop. “On that particular morning, he took one of the cars and dropped me at an overhead bridge on Aba road, where I used to take a bus to go and buy my goods. I gave him over N200, 000 to give to my customer, Madam Beauty, whom I bought some goods from, but had not finished payment. After I finished my business transactions for that day, I waited for him to come and pick me as usual, but I didn’t see him. I tried his phone number, but it was switched off. “I finally took a drop to my compound. When I got home, I asked my house maid about Michael. She said he came home to drop the red car and since then hadn’t returned. “I waited till 9pm and tried his number again, but it was still switched off. I took my drugs and went to bed.
Very early the next morning, I heard knocking on our gate. It was the voice of my son Michael. My husband opened the gate. Policemen were with him. We were surprised. We asked the policemen what Michael had done, but they kept mute. We asked Michael, he said he didn’t know. He said he was surprised too. He said he sold recharge cards to a girl and one thing led to another and they started arguing over the transaction, and then policemen came and arrested them.

WATCH OUT FOR PART 2 NEXT WEEK