Posted by By Simon Ebegbulem, Benin City on
Osakpamwen Obayagbona is a father of two and he was 40 before he met his untimely death in the hands of still unknown people who snuffed life out of him on the 20th of September, 2007 for reasons yet unknown.
Osakpamwen Obayagbona is a father of two and he was 40 before he met his untimely death in the hands of still unknown people who snuffed life out of him on the 20th of September, 2007 for reasons yet unknown.
The deceased who decided to trade on Indian hemp because of the high level of unemployment in the country, was sleeping in the same bed with his children, Elizabeth (9) and Faith (7) when death came calling. It was said that a criminal who was being pursued by some Policemen attached to the Rapid Response Squad, in the state Police Command at about 3:30am, sneaked into the Forestry Road residence of the deceased and other members of the family including his elder brother, Obayagbona David.
Unknowing to the owners of the house, the strange visitor undressed and changed his cloths with that of Osakpamwen who was deeply asleep and slept quietly. But the policemen who where in pursuit of him traced him to the house and ordered all the occupants to wake up. At this point, the deceased elder brother David came out from his room after he heard strange voices. The policemen explained to him that a criminal ran into their house that they came to conduct a search. He agreed and to his greatest surprise they found their target and arrested him.
After taking the suspect away, the Policemen came back few minutes later for Osakpamwen and he was arrested after they the police claimed that the suspect said he comes to the house to play card with the Osakpamwen. His room was searched and some cards and Indian hemp were found and he was consequently arrested in the presence of his two children. But few hours later, the family members were shocked to know that Osakpamwen whom according to them had never stolen before, has been shot dead and buried in a cemetery with other suspects.
Painfully, as at the time of filling this report Elizabeth and Faith are yet to be told that their father who slept with them on the same bed until that early hours of the morning was now dead and buried courtesy of the police. The family through the elder brother David, condemned the action and called on the Edo state Police Commissioner, Mr Bala Hassan and the Inspector General of Police to investigate the killing of their son whom they vowed was never a criminal. Saturday Vanguard spoke to David and he expressed the agony of the family. Excerpts:
David Obayagbona Owen, elder brother to the deceased:
On the 20th of September, 2007 at about 3:30 to 4am I heard voices within my court yard. When I came out I saw some law enforcement agents, so I asked them what are you doing here? They told me that some people ran into my compound. They asked me if I did not hear footsteps, I said no it was their voices that I heard that made me come out of my room. So we all started searching the house. They asked me to wake up everybody at home and I obeyed.
They started searching the whole house and surprisingly, they saw the person that ran into the house and the person was arrested. They took the person away but after five minutes they came back and said that the person confessed that he came to my house to gamble. So they went into my brothers room and conducted a search and saw cards with which they gamble. They now asked my brother to go with them. They took him away only to be informed that my brother has been shot dead after about two or thee hours later.
What happened?
When we started hearing rumour in the morning that those who were arrested that early morning including my brother have been shot, a cousin of mine and my niece went in search of my younger brother. We first of all went to the Oba Market Police Station but from their report he was not there. So they came home and went back to the State CID. When they got there they did not see my brother but they saw the wrapper with which he covered that night and his boxers stained with blood. So they came back and said that they did not see my brother but they saw his cloths at the station stained with blood. So we now believed that the young man has been killed. While we were mourning this young man, the officer that came to the house when they came to arrest my brother, came to us to say that the story we heard that my brother has been shot dead was not true.
He said we should come to the State CID when we are ready. And when we got to the State CID, we understood that this officer is attached to the Commissioner's office. The call the group Rapid Response Squad attached to the Commissioner's office. When we got there and met the officer that led the team, the first question he asked was how ready I am. I told him that I was ready. He now said I should go to the CID to check and I went there my brother was not there.
I used that opportunity to check all other cells but my brother was no where to be found. Then when we seek to have audience with the man, he became difficult to reach by sending us away. But when those officers were chasing us out of the station, two of my niece who went there with us passed through the other side of the MTD to the main State CID, when the officer now called them and asked them what the problem was, they explained every thing to him while I was waiting. The officer now told my niece that the people they are asking of have traveled. They now asked him what he meant by that.
He now told them point blank that they should understand that they have been shot. The information reaching us is that they were buried at the second cemetery without informing us and we are still in doubt whether my brother is still alive or dead. The family is in confusion right now. The most annoying thing is that they gave them mass burial when my brother is not a criminal.
What does your brother do for a living and how old is he?
My brother is 40 years old. And what I know of his actions is that he trade in Indian hemp. He has two kids one is nine, one is seven. We have not been able to inform the children because I do not know how to explain to the children that their father who slept with them on the same bed until that early morning has been shot dead. We have been pretending to them as if all is well because it is quite difficult to say their father is dead when he did not die in his sleep. He was taken away in their presence and he is not returning back. So we do not know how to break the news to them that their father is dead, they will not understand.
How did the criminal gain entry into the house?
The house is an ancient building, some part of it is dilapidated but we are trying to work on those areas that have fallen off from the back of the house. There is no entrance door at the back, it is an open place, you can go in and out of the place. But the compound is large that you have different houses within the compound but some of the houses are fenced. So the said criminal scaled through the fence into the compound and went straight through the gate at the back and entered the house. The Police also came through that same route. And because we were not entertaining any fear we do not lock the doors in the house most times, we just sleep like that.
But wasn't your brother a criminal?
He is not a criminal. He cannot take or touch some body else property, that I can vow for him. He cannot. Once I had accused him, fought with him in regard of this hemp selling. He explained that he does not have a job that the only way he can feed his children in order not to steal is to engage in hemp selling. So I do not think he will turn round now when he has that business to steal.
What the family is saying now is that thorough investigations is supposed to have been done before any drastic action is taken against anybody, that what the police has done, is unacceptable by the family since my brother is not a criminal and the police has not even told us that my brother is a criminal. For killing that boy is complete injustice to the family because my brother is innocent. And it is more sorrowful to know that my brother was buried in one grave with others.
It is injustice and we are asking for justice at least to clean that boy's name from what ever classified label they must have given to him. If it remains this way as the police want it to be, that name will stain the family's name because non of us have ever engaged in criminality.
So we want this issue to be cleared because the name of our family is very dear to us. At least why can't the Police investigate the matter before killing my brother extra-judicially?
That is wicked and we are calling on Nigerians to help us unearth those that killed my brother and prosecute them because this is wicked.I wonder how we are going to take care of the two children now, this is too sad and unbearable.