Posted by From GODWIN TSA, Abuja on
A witness in the extra- judicial killing of six civilians at the Apo Mechanic Village, Abuja, Police Constable Haruna Mamot, Wednesday, gave a chilling account of how the victims were killed by former Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Danjuma Ibrahim and the attempts made by the police to cover up the killings.
A witness in the extra- judicial killing of six civilians at the Apo Mechanic Village, Abuja, Police Constable Haruna Mamot, Wednesday, gave a chilling account of how the victims were killed by former Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Danjuma Ibrahim and the attempts made by the police to cover up the killings.
Six police officers, DCP Danjuma Ibrahim, Othman Abdusalam (CSP now at large), Nicholas Zakaria (ASP), Ezekiel Acheneje [PC], Baba Emmanuel (PC) and Sadiq Salami (PC) are standing trial in the murder of the six civilians.
Meanwhile, attempts by Danjuma's counsel, Mr. Rickey Tarfa (SAN), to tender a video documentary on the killings was rejected by the court following the objections by prosecution counsel, Chief Chris Uche (SAN) who questioned the source of the video tape.
The court has however said it will wait for the compliance of the order issued on the Deputy Inspector General of Police [DIG] Mike Okiro, to produce the Certified True Copy (CTC) report of the Administrative Panel of Enquiry set up by the police to look into the circumstances surrounding the killings.
The order for the report was at the instance of defence counsels who said they wanted to clarify some contradictions. Giving an insight into what transpired on June 7, 2005, Mamot said he was posted to the print at Gimbiya Street when about I.30 am of June 8,2005, DC Danjuma visited them and warned that they should be on alert.
He said Danjuma came to the scene in his private car, a BMW car which he parked by the pavement of the road and sat inside the car.
According to him, soon after the warning, "a Peugeot 406 came along at full speed. Myself, Yakubu Philibus and Ibrahim Garba flashed the car to stop, it slow down and continued to move. The DC tried to stop them but they refused to stop. He therefore used his BMW car to block the 406 car and his car was hit in the process. Thereafter, he instructed Inspector Suleiman Audu to fire but he refused to fire. The DC seized the inspector's riffle and fired at the Peugeot 406 with an AK 47 riffle. He then called on us to search the car. The driver and a girl came out of the car from the front seat and the DC ordered them to lie down.
"The four occupants of the back seat were in the pool of their blood. We searched the car but did not find anything incriminating on them. The DC called a patrol team to take the dead and the injured men to Garki Police Station."
He said it was at the Garki Police Station that the DPO, CSP Othman Abdusalam commenced moves to cover up the incident. Firstly, their original statements to the DPO on the true situation of the case, was torn apart as they were teleguided to write a different statement. He said he wrote eight statements all together on the incident but it was only the first and the last statement that captured the true position of the circumstances that led into the death of the six civilians."
According to him, he was directed to include in the statement that the victims were arm robbers who opened fire on the patrol team and that some dangerous weapons were recovered from them including; two locally made pistols; two live cartridges; two expanded cartridges; two daggers and one cutlass.
Meanwhile, Justice Ishaq Bello has adjourned the matter for today for further hearing.