Edo state governor, Adams Oshiomole has ordered a full scale
investigation into the death of Chibuike Edeh, a staff of Protea hotel in Benin
city, Edo state, who was arrested for stealing N48,000 belonging a guest at the
hotel on March 14th. He later died in police custody.
Speaking to the family, Oshiomhole said;
"Let me thank
you for coming to Government House to lay your complaint in a very peaceful
manner in spite of the pains in your heart and the gruesome murder of your son,
your brother and our comrade.
There is procedure to be
followed to investigate alleged stealing, even alleged murder. The police can
listen to complaint from anyone who has cause to complain or report theft or
any crime or suspected crime to the police.
The responsibility of the police
stops at arresting and investigating a suspect. They do not have the right to
kill, to maim, to brutalize and to murder anybody. That is not acceptable. The
responsibility of the police in our constitution is very clear; to protect
lives and property and they are law enforcement agencies, they are not to
execute people who are suspected of crimes.
They are to arraign suspects in
court and ensure that suspects are prosecuted according to our laws. I have
received since yesterday various accounts about whether or not this person died
in the police custody, whether he died of natural causes or he died as a result
of police torture or whether he died in the cause of allegedly trying to escape
and he was knocked down by a vehicle.
I will raise these issues with the
Commissioner. If somebody runs across the road and a vehicle knocks him down,
the vehicle will be apprehended and the driver will be known so it cannot be an
unknown vehicle or driver. I do understand that when we talk of police
custody, they call it protective custody.
The police are to protect suspects
and they are deemed innocent until they are found guilty by a competent court
and police cannot constitute itself into a court of law and even if a judge
finds a man guilty of murder and sentences him to death, he cannot be executed
except the governor approves of the death sentence so the laws are very clear.
However, the issues for us to find out are whether this person died in police
custody and if he escaped how he escaped from police custody because he wasn’t
reported to be an armed robber. He was said to be at the very worst, that he
stole money from somebody, he was not armed with any offensive weapon and so no
one can say he was running and he was shot, so we will find out” Oshiomhole
said.
In a related development, the Edo state Police command has
released a statement denying that Chibuike died in their custody but says he
was involved in a fatal accident after he decided to run when he was caught
for stealing. The statement in part
reads;
"On March 14,
2015, the police went with him (Chibuike) with a view to recovering the
exhibit, but on getting to the scene, the suspect took to his heels. In the
process, he ran into a moving Toyota Camry with registration number, FUG 93 JD
(EDO), driven by one Obamedo Omoregie.
The vehicle dragged the suspect from
Central Road to 1st East Circular Road, along Sapele Road, before it came to a
halt. The suspect sustained bruises on his body, he was immediately rushed to
UBTH with the assistance of some Good Samaritans, where he eventually died. The
driver of the car has been arrested for causing the death of the suspect, while
the car is impounded and the photograph is hereby attached.”
The father of Chibuike, Mr Raphael Edeh, has however
described the Police claims as false.
"I don’t
believe that he died in an accident. As a suspect in police custody, he must
have been handcuffed and held by the policeman who accompanied him. So, running
away would have been difficult. He must have been tortured, and the car
accident was used as a camouflage. Only God knows the truth" he said.
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