CITIZENS COMPASS –Rivers State Police Command is currently at loggerheads with the family of an auto technician, Chukwudi Abraham, who died while in Police custody.
While the Police claimed the deceased was arrested for cultism, armed robbery, and kidnapping offences, the family insists that their son worked as an auto technician at the Spare Parts Market in Ikoku, in the Mile 2 axis of the Port Harcourt area of the State.
The family has since raised the alarm describing the death as a rape of justice.
Chukwudi was said to have died in detention at the Octopus Strike Force Unit.
Spokesperson, Rivers State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, in a statement over the weekend, said the deceased was implicated in a case of kidnapping, armed robbery, and cultism.
She said the deceased was involved in the abduction of a businesswoman in the Diobu area of the metropolis on September 7, 2023, saying the victim was held captive for one week and was released after her family paid a ransom of N3.5m.
According to her, the police held a meeting with the parents and spouse of the deceased who were accompanied by two of their family’s legal representatives where they agreed that the family would participate in the autopsy to determine the cause of his death.
The statement reads, “The Rivers State Police Command is aware of a press conference held on May 23, 2024, by a member of the civil society.
The Police would like to inform the public that the deceased was implicated in a case involving Kidnapping, armed robbery, and cultism.
“This relates to the kidnapping of a female business tycoon (name withheld) in the Diobu area of Port Harcourt on September 7, 2023. The victim was kidnapped by five gunmen and taken to a hideout in Elechi waterside.
The kidnappers were armed with AK-47 rifles, a pump-action shotgun, and locally-made pistols. The victim was held captive for seven days and was released after the victim’s family paid a ransom of N3.5m.”
Meanwhile, the father of the deceased, Okereke Abraham, at a joint press briefing with the Rivers State Civil Society Organisation said his son was not a criminal, saying months after his arrest the police denied keeping him in their custody, but that his remains were found at the University of Port Harcourt.
“On January 11, I was at Choba and was called that my son was arrested. I thought it was a normal arrest not knowing there was something behind (it). My son is a mechanic.
“I contacted human rights to inform them. So after three days, the police brought my son to his shop and searched everywhere but they didn’t see anything. They took him back. When I went back to the Octopus, they didn’t even allow me to enter the place again. So I went back to human rights who promised to follow it before I heard that they had killed my son.”
He appealed to the Rivers State Government to come to his aid.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the State Civil Society Organisation, Enefaa Georgewill, faulted the police over their handling of the case.
