A Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) serving with Mopol 29, Akwa, Anambra State, Cornelius Agbo, on Monday told the independent investigative panel on violation of rights by the defunct SARS and other police units that he was not carrying and gun with him sometimes in September, 2013 when he was attacked and beaten by the petitioners before the panel.
While testifying in a petition, marked 2020/IPP-SARS/ABJ/83, brought by Tony Duchi; Silas Daniel; Suleiman Yabganga; Mea Kibori; Richard Elisha; Moses Williams; Jonathan Tagwai and Gideon Yohanna, against him, the Inspector General of Police, the defunct SARS, FCT and the Commissioner of Police, FCT, Agbo declared that if he had carried gun with him that day, the petitioners could not have attacked him.
The petitioner had alleged torture, unlawful detention, and imprisonment based on ethnic origin against the respondents in the petition.
Agbo, who said he was serving with the FCT SARS as of the time of the incident, informed that he went to repair his car at his mechanic workshop at Durumi 2 when the incident happened sometimes in 2013.
He said while at the workshop, he was pressed and asked for a restroom around but was told by his mechanic, one Mr Uche, that there was none and that it was the bush they used.
According to him, when he entered the bush to defecate, three boys approached him and asked him what he was doing there, to which he said he told them he was toileting.
“They started flogging me. One of them hit me on the head with wood and I started bleeding. I ran away and escaped, they still pursued me and were shouting ‘thief’.
“Another three boys later joined them. I sustained injuries. It was when I escaped that I went to treat myself at a pharmacy at Garki 2 before going home that day,” he told the panel.
Agbo said he went to the Garki police station the following morning to report the incident, and the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) mobilised a patrol team to follow him to the scene and made an arrest.
“They were brought to the police station where I made my written statement. They were five or six. They were later charged to court at Magistrate Court at Wuse Zone 6 before I left FCT.”
He told the panel that he neither knew the outcome of the case nor was invited in respect of the case until now that he was summoned by the panel.
Asked by counsel for the police, Fidelis Ogbobe if he was with a gun as alleged by the petitioner, Agbo said, “I was not with a gun that day. If I was with a gun, they could not attack me.”
While being cross-examined by the petitioners’ counsel, Samuel Yusuf, Agbo claimed he never knew that the petitioners were first charged to a Chief Magistrate Court at Karu and did not know if he testified before the court before it was transferred to Wuse Zone 6.
According to him, “I cannot remember in testified at the Magistrate Court in Karu. It has been a long time like I said.”
He also said he could not remember telling the court at Karu that those arraigned before it was not those who attacked him.
Agbo denied reporting the attack on him to the SARS in Keffi, Nasarawa State, saying that, “though I was with SARS then, I reported at the Garki police station. It was not a SARS matter.”
At a previous hearing of the petition, found l for the petitioners, Samuel Yusuf, had alleged that his clients were unjustly arrested and detained.
He alleged that Agbo, who claimed that he was at Durumi 2 to collect photographs, accused the petitioners of attacking him while waiting to collect the photograph, went and mobilise SARS at Garki 2 and returned to Durumi 2 to deal with innocent residents.
The petitioners, Yusuf claimed, were arrested and taken to the SARS office, where they were beaten, tortured, and kept incommunicado for days before being charged to magistrate court at Karu before it was transferred to Wuse Zone 6, where the case was abandoned by the police.
The lawyer urged the panel to order compensation for the petitioners for the torture, unfair trial without a fair hearing, among others, as provided by the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015.
He further said that the petitioners sought the trial of Agbo before a court under the torture law of 2017 to serve as a deterrent to other police officers, claiming that Agbo violated all United Nations Charter and Convention on torture and discrimination.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
FALSE! Yoruba Not An Official Language In Brazil
Claim: A national newspaper and multiple online platforms claim Brazil has adopted Yoruba as its official language and that the language would be included in primary and secondary schools curriculum.
Verdict: The claim is false. The content of the article published by these online platforms is not new; it has been recirculated several times and has been debunked.
Viral Voice Note On WhatsApp Billing False
Claim: A viral WhatsApp voice note, purportedly made by the director and CEO of WhatsApp, claims users will have to start paying for WhatsApp services.
Verdict: The viral WhatsApp voice note claim is a hoax. The content is not new and has been circulated as a broadcast message several times in the past.
Marburg Virus: What You Need To Know About Disease Recently Detected In West Africa
On Monday, August 9, 2021, the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed the first case of Marburg virus in West Africa in Guinea. This development has sent shivers down the spines of West Africans who are still grappling with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. But before this dreaded disease is greeted by rumours and misinformation, here is what you have to know about the virus.APC states to establish Health Emergency Trust Fund…
FACT CHECK: US Did Not Give Nigeria 48 Hours Ultimatum To Detain Abba Kyari
CLAIM: Several social media posts claim the United States of America (USA) gave Nigeria’s Federal Government 48 hours to detain suspended Deputy Police Commissioner, Abba Kyari, or face severe sanctions.
VERDICT: The claim is false and misleading. The US did not give Nigerian Federal Government 48 hours ultimatum to detain Abba Kyari.
and then