Chukwudi Akasike, Port Harcourt
FOUR policemen have been arrested and detained by the Rivers State Police Command over the death of a mechanic, Ikwunado Chima, in a cell.
The policemen, including the Investigation Police Officer, simply identified as Sam, were said to have been arrested and detained on Monday at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Port Harcourt.
It was alleged that the four policemen, who are members of the Eagle Crack, had subjected Chima and four others to extreme torture, a development that led to the death of the mechanic.
It was also learnt that the Commander of the Eagle Crack team, Benson Adetuyi, was not among those arrested because he was not aware of the ordeal Chima and four others went through.
Recall DEZ MAYORZ reported how Port Harcourt City Mayor Victor Ihunwo Nyeche visited Ikoku and calm down the protesting traders. Also Hon Chinyere Igwe (lawmaker representing Port Harcourt City Federal constituency 2) paid the Ikoku traders a visit and sympathize with them.
“Four policemen involved in the torture of Chima and his friends have been arrested and detained. They were detained at the State CID because of the role they played in Ikwunado Chima’s death. We learnt that they are still investigating the matter,” a security source told our DEZ MAYORZ and other media correspondents.
Recall that Chima, a mechanic in Ikokwu, died in the cell at the Mile One Police Station after he was tortured by the police, who arrested him alongside four of his friends, claiming they were cultists.
However, there has been an uproar over the death of the mechanic, even as the court, last week, discharged Chima’s friends, ruling that they were arrested based on mere suspicion.
Confirming the detention of the four policemen over the alleged torture and death of Chima, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, said they were invited and questioned.
Omoni told PUNCH that the four policemen were detained after they were questioned, adding that investigation was still ongoing on the matter.
“They (four cops) were detained after questioning, pending the end of the investigation,” the state police spokesman stressed.
On the second autopsy expected to be carried out on the body of the late Chima, Omoni explained that the police were still waiting for the family of the deceased to provide their own pathologist that will be part of the autopsy.
“We are ready for the second autopsy, but we are waiting for the family of the deceased to provide their own pathologist,” Omoni said.
