Posted by From Funmi Peter-Omale in Abuja on
More revelations emerged yesterday at the resumed hearing of the Mike Okiro Panel of Inquiry, probing the killing of six traders in Apo area of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja as a witness, a policeman attached to the hit squad that carried out the June 8 killing, Anthony Idam, died in mysterious circumstances.
More revelations emerged yesterday at the resumed hearing of the Mike Okiro Panel of Inquiry, probing the killing of six traders in Apo area of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja as a witness, a policeman attached to the hit squad that carried out the June 8 killing, Anthony Idam, died in mysterious circumstances.
Counsel to the families of the slain traders, Amobi Nzelu, also raised an alarm that except the Police personnel involved in the extra judicial killing are sent on leave or transferred more people may also suffer mysterious deaths or disappearances.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Nicholas Zakariya, Officer in Charge (OC), Ambush Squad, Idam died last Sunday following a brief illness, which was described as "belubelu."
Cross examining the witness, Nzelu alleged that the deceased was poisoned because some people (names withheld) thought he (Idam) was supplying the traders' families and counsels with information hence need to be exterminated.
"Material evidences are being suppressed, we are seeking for the Inspector General of Police to order the Abuja Commissioner of Police, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) and all the concerned men and officers to proceed on interdiction. For as long as they on seat, progress and justice would never be done. Anthony was allegedly killed because they feel he was our informant. I have written my will. I am not afraid. But I want to warn this panel that many more people would die if the concerned officers are not sent on leave or at least transferred," Nzelu said.
Nzelu however asked the panel to provide tight security for another key witness one Garba Husseini from MOPOL 7, Kano.
Earlier, Dr. Ignatius Elah Mogaba, who certified the traders dead in an evidence before the panel, said there was no post-mortem on the corpses and that the police men who brought them to the hospital refused to bring down the corpses for him to follow the normal procedure before certifying them dead.
Mogaba, who said he was on relief duty in the casualty ward, recalled that the six corpses, a male and a female were riddled with bullets, with one of them having his brain matter exposed, were lumped together in a police van and brought to the Asokoro District Hospital around 8.24am on June 8.
He said he was informed that they were alleged armed robbers that had engaged the police in gun battle, adding that the normal procedure was to report the incident to the management and deposit the corpses in the mortuary.
"The normal procedure is to report to the management, which is what I did. Under normal circumstances, they should have been sent to the mortuary and I actually requested them to be taken to the mortuary. To the best of my knowledge, there was no post mortem," he said.
The doctor also confirmed that he dealt directly with one police Constable Dennis Asawa.
Chairman of the Panel, Okiro promised to discuss the issue of the police officers' transfer or interdiction with the Inspector General of Police.
According to him, there were not clear evidence to show that they were threatening people, though he appealed to the general public with useful information not to get threatened or scared to furnish the panel with helpful information.
Okiro assured that Garba, another key witness as well as other key witnesses would be given adequate security within what he called "human capabilities."
On the issue of identifying the visiting site the six were buried, he said the terms of reference of the panel was to identify who killed and the motive(s) behind the killings.
"We have terms of reference and as much as possible, we want to stick to that. At the appropriate time, the officials of the Abuja Environmental Agency will be summoned and the site where the victims were buried will be identified," he said.
Okiro assured that before the panel rounds up its sitting at the end of the week, all the mysteries about the killings would be unravelled.
Meanwhile, Okiro ordered the arrest of an unidentified male that allegedly assaulted a photojournalist last Friday with a warning that the panel would not condone unruly behaviour from any quarters.