Journalist, Radio Programmes Producer suffer Police brutality in Akwa Ibom
A journalist, Lynda Ukonne, and John Obot, an independent Radio programmes producer are among the latest victims of unprofessional conduct by the Anti-robbery Squad of Nigeria Police, Akwa Ibom State Police Command.
Our correspondent learnt that the Lynda Ukonne who is a member of the Insight Newspapers Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalist, Akwa Ibom State Council, was arrested and detained on May 11, 2022, on grounds that her brother was arrested over an alleged involvement in a robbery attack.
The state council of NUJ, National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) and the Insight Newspapers Chapel of NUJ have all waded into the matter.
A statement released by human rights group, Citizens Liberation Movement reads thus:
"Her gory travails with the police started on May 11, 2022, when she received a phone call from an unknown caller, inviting her to the Akwa Ibom State Command of the Nigeria Police. According to the caller, Lynda's brother, Daniel Ukonne, was involved in an alleged robbery attack in Uyo and was arrested in the process.
"Upon arriving the anti-robbery unit of the Akwa Ibom State Police Command, she made enquires about the case and requested to see her brother.
The police, however, declined the request.
Lynda upon seeing her brother's friend, David Esene and his sister, Shalom Esene, being handcuffed, chained and kept beside the interrogation room, walked over and had a discussion with them.
It was there that she gleaned that Shalom was reportedly raped by a certain Williams - an incident which made David and Lynda's brother, Daniel, pursue the suspect to his parents' house were he was reportedly shielded by family members.
Interestingly, the suspect's family later went to the police and lodged robbery complaints against David and Daniel (Lynda's brother).
A mobile phone was the alleged item being robbed of, or stolen.
"The police upon realizing that Lynda was obtaining statements from the persons, descended on her, beat her to pulp, detained and rendered her incommunicado for three (3) days.
On the day of her release, effort was made by the police to forcefully make her thumbprint on a prewritten statement which she declined.
She insisted that the matter be taken to a court of law."
The statement continued: "David and Shalom (the puported rape victim) were released after reportedly paying the sum of two hundred thousand Naira (200,000 Naira) as bail fee. Comfort Eshiet (David's girlfriend) was also set free. Worryingly, the whereabouts of Daniel (Lynda's brother) is currently unknown as the police claim that he is not in their custody. We have however been briefed that the allegation of rape has been swept under the carpet by the police.
"Lynda currently experiences body pains, particularly severe pain in her right eye which took a serious hit during the assault. There exist medical reports to back up these claims.
The police has now cobbled charges of assault and impersonation against her.
An unarmed lady successfully assaulting armed police officers in a well-fortified environment like the headquarters of the Akwa Ibom State Police Command?
On the charge of impersonation, the police will have to state strictu sensu whether Lynda paraded herself as a suspect, or presented herself as a lawyer. She only went there on invitation as a sister to one of the accused.
"While Lynda is not perturbed by the charges and is ready for the legal battle which she proposed while in custody, we are of the opinion that all the primary suspects earlier set free by the police must be taken to court.
The allegation of robbery must also be thoroughly investigated.
The dubious freeing of David, Shalom (the alleged rape victim) and Comfort by the Police is very condemnable.
The circumstances around Lynda's treatment is a clear breach of human rights and an alarming development in the dire situations citizens continue to face in Nigeria.
"We are not attempting to neither exonerate nor implicate any of the parties in the matter, but we have to stress that this statement is put up based on concrete evidence made available to us.
The primary suspects are walking freely while a third party who was called upon to intervene in the matter is held in contempt by the police for apparently refusing to part ways with her hard-earned money as bail fee.
"We call on journalists, the University of Uyo and members of the public to make independent enquires into the matter and decide for themselves whether Lynda should be supported or not.
We also call on IGP Alkali Baba Usman, the Inspector General of Police, to personally wade into the matter by seeking why his officers in Akwa Ibom State are allowing a rape suspect to walk freely, and why David, Shalom and Comfort were released and not taken to court. The IGP knows his job better and we expect him to act in good faith."
In the case of John Obot, Citizens Liberation Movement served the police a preaction notice.
The notice reads:
"We are writing to notify the Akwa Ibom State Command of the Nigeria Police that we have officially adopted a petition bordering on unlawful arrest and torture of Mr. John Obot, an independent Radio Programmes Producer, Broadcast Research Assistant and Public Affairs Analyst.
We have since exhausted patience in waiting on the Police authorities to investigate the matter and report back to us.
"It is our understanding that John Obot was returning from work at a Radio Station when he was arrested on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, by the police over unfounded and very malicious claim of possession and smoking of marijuana.
After a stopover at a supermarket on Ikot Ekpene Road in Uyo where he purchased some edibles, he was about boarding a vehicle when the police officers from the Anti-robbery Unit numbering about six (6) rounded him up, requesting that he surrenders the marijuana in his possession.
"A search was conducted on him and no such substance was found on him but the police insisted that he was among a group of lads who were allegedly smoking the substance in the environment but fled upon sighting the police van. John was taken to the station, beaten up and detained overnight.
As he continued professing his innocence on the next day being Wednesday, May 25, 2022, the officers resumed the assault spree which led to injuries being inflicted on his body.
"On the night of my arrest, they drove me for some hours, stopping by at various drinking spots to take local gin.
At such spots some of them will come to persuade me to settle them, which I resisted, telling them that what they were doing was illegal and that as a media worker I would expose them.
I told them that aside from being a media worker that I was also a human rights activist and insisted that they were acting outside the boundaries of the law. This further inflamed them and attracted more threats and physical abuse of my rights. At the station, the supposed IPO, one Judith, was threatening to deal with me. She later abandoned me and went to court. Within the period I was under detention, I saw raw abuse of human rights of suspects leading to serious wounds and trauma. Suspects were made to give statements under duress and monies were obtained from their relatives for bail. When the O/C in charge came to see me, he also threatened me with a prison sentence, stating that I was stupid to challenge the police instead of cooperating so that they could set me free," John narrated in his complaint to our organization.
"The officers later proposed that John Obot be taken for drugs test at the Police Medical Services Center, and was taken there twice but no such test was conducted on him.
As he was taken to the medical centre on two occasions, he was paraded on the road with handcuffs like a convicted criminal. A senior Lawyer and former Executive Chairman of Uyo Local Government Area, Barr Mfon Ben, upon sighting him, appealed to them to free him but got a negative response. John was kept in a very dirty cell with about 20 inmates. Later in the evening of May 25th, 2022, he was made to write an undertaking and subsequently freed at around 6:00PM. The charge against John was unfounded, inaccurate and unsupportable as the Police declined pushing for his conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction.
"John's work suffered as he failed clients who had contracted him for time-bound jobs. His family was also subjected to trauma as he went missing.
As he was publicly paraded with handcuffs like a criminal, he was ridiculed and discredited in the eyes of right thinking members of the public, clients and associates who hitherto held him in high esteem.
The Public Relations Unit of the Akwa Ibom State Police Command should as a matter of urgency brief the world on this matter.
"Consequently, we wish to announce to the Police that our organization is fully in support of John's demand for justice. We shall stand by him till justice is served in this matter. We are looking forward to meeting the Police in court. Our organization is already escalating the various cases of wanton abuses and violations to relevant authorities within and outside Nigeria.
We call on members of the public who have had their rights violated by the police to approach our organization as we are ready to institute a pro bono lawsuit on their behalf. Our organization exists for the common good of the society and sees the police as a very important partner in building a virile society;
the police should therefore operate professionally and uphold human rights and dignity at all times.
As long as the world continues to exist, we shall push to ensure that John Obot and other victims of police brutality get justice."
In his reply, Police Public Relations Officer, Odiko Macdon denied allegation of abuse of Lynda Ukonne. He however promised to give feedback to our reporter on the case of John Obot but failed to do so despite several reminders sent to him.
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