Men of the Nigeria Police Force
The family of Christopher Ngbede Ameh, a 22-year-old Higher
National Diploma (HND) student of Benue State Polytechnic, have said
they have reason to believe their son was extra-judicially murdered
while in custody since the police has failed to produce their son or
give account for his disappearance.
In a petition written by counsel to the father of the boy, Mr. Abel
Ameh, to Benue State Police Command, he said the disappearance of
Christopher occurred on July 2, 2017.
The petition, which was also addressed to the Inspector General of
Police, the Assistant Inspector of Police, Zone 4, Makurdi as well as
the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, pleaded with them to act on
the matter in the interest of justice.
He urged the police to act to save the face of the force by fishing
out those who masterminded the disappearance and possible death of his
son whom he claimed was innocent of the claims against him.
Ameh said, “We are demanding justice in this matter because it
will not only ensure that the true account of what happened to my son is
made public, it will also ensure that the bad eggs in the force are
fished out.”
Narrating what he said led to the alleged murder of his son, he said, “In July 2017, some youths came to tell me that my son had been arrested for allegedly harassing a young lady with a gun.
“The next day, the police came and searched my house without a
search warrant and did not find anything to implicate my son of the said
accusation.
“On the strength of that, I immediately went to the Adoka Police Station to bail my son but they refused to grant him bail.
“At that point, I became helpless and didn’t know who to turn
to, especially when I gathered that the police had earlier granted bail
to two other suspects who were said to have been arrested alongside my
son.”
Continuing as he fought back tears, he said, “We later visited
the station to give him food but we were told he was no longer with
them. I was shocked and couldn’t understand what was going on.
“I inquired about his whereabouts and I was told initially that
he had been transferred to the police Area Command Headquarters in
Otukpo for further investigations.
“I immediately went to the Otukpo Area Command to see if I
could bail him, but when I got to there I was told that there was no
such case with them.
“I made efforts to know what was happening but nobody was ready to help.
“When I couldn’t hold back and was in tears, a crime inspector
approached me and told me that my son’s case had been transferred to the
State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, in Makurdi.
“I headed to Makurdi only to get there and found that no such case had been taken there and my son was nowhere to be found.
“It was at that point that I returned home in Adoka and decided
to seek legal advice because it was obvious that nobody was ready to
tell me where the police had taken my son to.”
The father stated that one of the young men who had been arrested
with Christopher but released later confided in him that his son was
taken out of cell at about 4am and murdered by the police.
According to him, somebody showed him a van that conveyed the corpse of his son to the place where he was probably buried.
“I also overheard people telling a parish priest that my son
was involved in a robbery incident and that he had been buried between
Adoka and neighboring Ogbobia in Otukpo local government area.
“It is devastating, that is why I’m asking for justice in this
matter because a suspect is presumed innocent until found guilty by a
competent court.
“We demand explanations. The police should tell us the
whereabouts of my son who was in their custody and, if they have
actually killed him, they must come out and tell the world why he was
killed extra – judicially”.
Ameh added that Christopher was the fourth out of his eight children.
Vanguard reports that the Benue State Police Commissioner Bashir
Makama, in his reaction to the petition, promised to unravel the
circumstance surrounding the disappearance of the suspect, assured that
justice would prevail in the matter.
Makama said, “The issue will certainly not be swept under the
carpet. I can assure you that I will get to the root of the matter
because such will certainly not happen under my watch.
“I have instructed the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in
charge of Adoka to commence investigation into the matter. I will take
it up from there”.
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