Death Of Obudu DPO In Controversial Circumstances Sparks Outcry
Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria, News From The State Wednesday, April 29th, 2020
(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Five police officers attached to the Obudu Divisional Police Office in Cross River State, have been accused of extra-judicial killing and unlawful shooting of Superintendent Amawu Gabriel Anang on March 10, 2020.
Ironically, the deceased, prior to his gruesome murder, was a Superintendent of Police and the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the Nigerian Police Force, Obudu Police Division.
He was allegedly shot and killed, in highly controversial circumstances, right inside the very police station he had been heading.
The family of the slain Police Officer, in a petition sent to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, named five suspects for the murder of their son and bread winner. They are Inspector Omini Ibiang(Station guard), Police CorporalEdet Ansa(Orderly to the deceased officer), ASP Egbela Sunday(Station DCO), Inspector Angelina Baggie(the officer who wasco-opted to falsely represent that she was the person who took the deceased officer to the hospital), Tony Odu (Station Chief Clerk) and, Inspector Arah Sunday (SO).
In the petition through their lawyer, Benedict Obuo Amawu, Esq of Lawstars Advisors & Solicitors, the family told IGP Adamu, said; “we are desperately in need of justice. Justice is all that we demand at this point.”
NATIONAL ACCORD has obtained a copy of the 48-paragraph petition dated 20th March, 2020, which was also copied the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and the Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the President of Senate (through the Clerk to the National Assembly, Abuja, Director- General, State Security Service (SSS), the Director, Amnesty International, Nigeria and Ordinary President Ahmed Isah of the Human Rights Radio (Brekete Family), Abuja.
The family of Ukani Felix Amawu, in the petitioners, said they also suspected official complicity and mishandling of the case by the Cross River State Police Command.
“For the records, we shall humbly and unequivocally state that the speculated Report with Ref: “DTO: 110700/03/2020, POLZIB CALABAR and AIGPOL FIB/COMPOL FIB ABUJA” circulated by the Cross River State Police Command is amply false. Thus, the report is a hasty conclusion aimed at hiding the killers of the late Officer as well as concealing the truth behind the unlawful shooting and extra-judicial killing of an innocent Officer, who had during his life time dedicated his ALL to the advancement of the good image of the Nigeria Police Force,” the petitioners said.
They therefore pleaded with the Police high command to order a thorough and full scale investigation into circumstances surrounding the officer’s death.
“We seek that the real truth be unraveled with the perpetrators arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the laws,” the petitioners said.
Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mbah, could not be reached to comments on the petition at the time of this report.
The petition addressed to the IGP is reproduced below:
THE FAMILY OF THE SLAIN (DECEASED) SP. GABRIEL AMAWU ANANG.
C/o Lawstars Advisors & Solicitors
Suite 053, Trinity House, Plot 943
Cadastral Zone B06, Behind Ministry of Works
Mabushi – Abuja.
Tel: 07031846089
Email: amawu.obuo@gmail.com
The Inspector-General of Police, 20th March, 2020.
The Nigeria Police Force
Force Headquarter,
Louis Edet House,
Garki, Abuja.
Atten: The Officer in-charge IGP Intelligence Response Team (IGP- IRT)
Dear Sir,
PETITION:
MURDER: EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLING AND UNLAWFUL SHOOTING OF SP. AMAWU GABRIEL ANANG (DIVISIONAL POLICE OFFICE, OBUDU), BY SUSPECTED POLICE OFFICERS ATTACHED TO THE OBUDU POLICE DIVISION, CROSS RIVER STATE.
THE SUSPECTED POLICE OFFICERS INCLUDE:
1. INSP. OMINI IBIANG (Station guard)
2. PC. EDET ANSA (Orderly to the deceased officer)
3. ASP. EGBELA SUNDAY (Station DCO)
4. INSP. Angelina Baggie (The officer who wasco-opted to falsely represent that she was the person who took the deceased officer to the Hospital)
5. Tony Odu (Station Chief Clerk)
6. INSP. ARAH SUNDAY (SO)
INTRODUCTION:
This petition is undertaken on behalf of the entire Family of Ukani Felix Amawu; the family of the slain Police Officer, SP. Amawu Gabriel Anang shot and gruesomely murdered on the 10th March, 2020 inside the Obudu Police Station in Cross River State.
Prior to his death, the deceased was a Superintendent of Police and the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of the Nigerian Police Force, Obudu Police Division, Cross River State.
For the records, we shall humbly and unequivocally state that the speculated Report with Ref: “DTO: 110700/03/2020, POLZIB CALABAR and AIGPOL FIB/COMPOL FIB ABUJA” circulated by the Cross River State Police Command is amply false. Thus, the report is a hasty conclusion aimed at hiding the killers of the late Officer as well as concealing the truth behind the unlawful shooting and extra-judicial killing of an innocent Officer, who had during his life time dedicated his ALL to the advancement of the good image of the Nigeria Police Force.
We wish to further state that any information paraded in the media which found reliance on such reports is in itself untrue, unverifiable and baseless. Hence, the report was released and circulated without any form of investigation whatsoever. For the avoidance of doubt, the Report is herein attached as Annexure 1.
FACTS OF THE CASE:
The fact surrounding the death of SP Amawu Gabriel Anang is as follows:
1. The late Officer was shot at the Obudu Police Station, specifically inside the Station counter on 10th March, 2020.
2. The shooting is reported to have taken place at about 21:00hrs (9pm).
3. To clearly establish the fact that the Police officer was shot, we have attached herein Annexure 2 Series, evidently showing an entry point of a straight bullet directly on the right hand chest, beside the breast of the deceased officer.
4. The bullet from the gun shot went straight into the deceased officer’s chest and exited at his right arm/region; it would not have been possible for the officer to shot himself from that point and speculated in some quarters.
5. The damage occasioned by the bullet at the exit point is so grave and grievous to the extent that the deceased armpit is badly damaged, thus showing the force and effect of the straight bullet.
6. Independent findings have revealed that upon being shot, the deceased was left in the pool of his blood.
7. Findings also show that all the men and officers on duty had abandoned the officer to die in the pool of his blood.
8. The above is a clear indication that the act of annihilation, murder and ungodly killing orchestrated by the act of shooting was premeditated and neatly carried out with the intention to ensure that the life of the Officer was completely terminated.
9. In support of the above fact that the deceased officer was abandoned to die, it is on record that it was an innocent civilian who later rushed the deceased Officer to the Hospital, by this time he had passed on.
10. To put records straight, while driving along the street of the Police Station in Obudu, the innocent civilian had noticed the commotion at the Police Station.
11. Thus, he rushed inside the Station and noticed the deceased DPO was in the pool of blood, without being attended to.
12. It was this innocent civilian who had packed his vehicle at the road side, that later rush the deceased Officer to the Hospital with the lone support from a female Police Officer identified as PC Monica.
13. Further findings reveal very that the good Samaritan female police PC Monica who aided the innocentcivilianto rush the deceased officer to the Hospital was not even on duty on the date/time of the incidence.
14. The aforementioned Officer merely rushed to the scene of the incidence upon hearing the sudden and unfortunate sound of the gun that was released on the late officer.
15. She (Monica) was able to hear the gunshot sound since her apartment (Police Barracks) is directly behind the Police Station, where the Officer was brutally shot and allowed to die like a common criminal by men who should ordinarily protect the lives of Nigerians including that of their superior (deceased DPO).
16. To show how the Police in Obudu are complicit and desperately seeking to hide the truth, they have suddenly gone ahead to instruct one Inspector Angelina to pretend and act that she was the one that rushed the deceased Officer to the Hospital contrary to the facts as stated above. We request that this fact be thoroughly investigated for the avoidance of doubt.
17. Assuming without conceding that Angelina was the person that rushed the deceased to the Hospital, the question that is begging for answer is why could it have been a woman’s responsibility to rush a dying Officer to the Hospital? Amidst the presence of able Police men on duty.
18. It is on record that several men were available the night the act was perpetrated, some of these men include the deceased orderly (Edet Ansa), a Police constablewho has overtly stated that when the incidence happened, he took the gun away to his house.
19. Why was Edet too in a hurry to take the gun away, even when a man’s life was at stake?Besides, from the information that was hurriedly circulated after the death of SP Amawu, the deceased allegedly took the gun from the Station guard, who should have hurriedly taken possession of same from the deceased after the incident, what was Edet’s business with the said rifle at that material time?
20. The above are some of the questions; we feel are necessary for investigation. We would later make reference to other men who were at the station.
21. Interestingly, when some of the family members were contacted on the night of the event, they rushed to the Police Station that night at about 23:00hrs (11pm), only to discover that the Police had hurriedly washed and were cleaning the blood stains at the counter where the Officer had been shot.
22. Again, why were the Police officers who are presumed to know the nitty-gritty of investigation in a hurry to wash and clean the blood area which ordinarily should form the first point of investigation?
23. Despite the glaring facts revealing that the deceased DPO, SP Amawu Gabriel Anang was deliberately shot, the Cross River State Commissioner of Police in the person of CP Uwem Akpang is completely adamant on the matter and has refused to sniff facts outside his preconceived notion of the facts surrounding the deceased’s murder and has flagrantly refused to direct swift, prompt and proactive investigation into the matter.
24. The Commissioner of Police has overtly resorted to upholding mere speculations. Thus, relying only on hearsay testimonies disclosed by the very same Police Officers in Obudu who are prime suspects in the unlawful shooting and extra-judicial killing of an innocent Police officer who has meritoriously served with clean records which now speaks for him.
25. To lend credence to the fact that the CP is merely acting on hearsay, on 16th of March, 2020 in a meeting session with the Commissioner of Police, other Senior Police Officers alongside immediate family members and community representatives of the deceased Officer, the CP raised unprofessional and rather baseless issues that have no nexus whatsoever with the death SP Amawu Gabriel Anang.
26. Interestingly, the CP admitted that prior to his death, SP Amawu Gabriel Anang had informed him one-on-one that in one of their operations in Obudu, his men had withdrawn and left the deceased officer alone in the middle of an operation.
27. It is clear that when this matter was reported, the CP had treated same with kid gloves and till date, no reasonable findings/discipline has been meted on the officers directly affected. The CP has refused to summon and sanction the officers who had withdrawn and left the DPO to his fate in the course of that operation.
28. It is important to mention very pointedly that at the said meeting; the CP had admitted and informed all who were present that the deceased SP Amawu Gabriel Anang had on several occasions, requested and pleaded that he be transferred from Obudu. Hence, he was sensing danger to his life.
29. The CP merely said he was reluctant about the requested pleas for transfer, since according to the CP, he wanted to first seek and obtain the consent of the Executive Governor of Cross River State before the transfer.
30. One thing that is unclear is as to whether the transfer of a DPO and/or a Police Officer ought to have been subjected to an Executive consent as in this case especially when the deceased had communicated the danger of his life.
31. The life of the deceased Officer may have been used to trade personal and pecuniary gains/benefits. We humble request that this too be thoroughly investigated.
32. For the deceased Divisional Police Officer’s men to withdraw in an operation leaving their superior to his fate, it is a clear indication that plans were already on-going to ensure that his life was completely terminated. He saw it, he suspected it, as a fine officer, the poor man alerted his superior and requested for immediate deployment, but he was left to die as a common criminal without any justification whatsoever.
33. Notwithstanding the seriousness associated with this matter, the corpse of the deceased officer is still lying in Obudu despite the family request that an independent Autopsy vis-à-vis a Ballistic analysis be carried out to ascertain the reason behind the unlawful shooting and extra-judicial killing of the deceased Officer.
Despite the clarity of facts, the Police Officers in Obudu are determined to conceal the truth with a view to hiding the killers of the deceased DPO, SP Amawu Gabriel Anang. In an attempt to deceive the general public as well as the deceased family, the Police in Obudu through their DCO (ASP. EGBALA SUNDAY) have comically alleged as follows:
i. That the deceased shot himself, in another twist, they have also alleged that the deceased died as a result of accidental discharge. Thus, hiding the picture which clearly reveal that death was occasioned by a straight bullet which was directly shot at the deceased’s chest.
ii. Further, they have concoctedly alleged that there was a protest in Obudu Police Station on the night of the incidence, without arresting the protesters till date.
iii. That the said protest was led/masterminded by the Student Union Government (SUG) President of the Federal College of Education (FCE), Obudu.
iv. That the student came in that night and demanding for the release of their students who were detained at the Police Station.
v. They have deceitfully alleged that in order to disperse the crowd of the protesting students, the late deceased DPO hurriedly came out that night, collected a rifle from the station guard and shot into the air.
vi. In their hilarious narrative, they have also said that upon shooting into the air, the deceased DPO went inside the counter and after proving the rifle, the (deceased) removed the magazine (firearms) into his pocket.
vii. According to their contradictory testimonies, they have also said that the deceased DPO dropped the gun after he had removed the magazine, but that the gun subsequently exploded with a bullet coming out of same.
viii. Further to the paragraph above, they have also alleged that the exploded bullet went and hit a wall first and thereafter erupted into the deceased body. To every reasonable person, this line of testimony is amply deceitful and ornamentally untrue; the narrative is far from reality when considered in practical terms.
ix. For the records, the Police in Obudu have shown a cracked wall on the picture attached as Annexure 3, wherein, it is alleged that the bullet first hit and cracked the wall before exploding and thus, harming the deceased body.
x. It is important to state emphatically and contrary to their analysis that the height of this wall is less than 2.9ft tall. How a bullet would have hit such wall and proceeded upward to pierce the upper region of a man who is over 5.9ft tall is completely a mystery. Unfortunately, that wall is not a stone wall which one may have assumed that the bullet could not have penetrated same.
xi. The damage and injuries on the body of the deceased are so severe, the effect could not have been that heavy assuming without conceding that the exploded bullet actually hit the purported cracked wall before touching the deceased body.
xii. The testimony of the various Police Officers is a bundle of lies in every respect, unfortunately, this is what the Cross River State Police Command had hurriedly published vide Annexure 1 above, expecting the whole world to believe that a seasoned/competently trained Police Officer with a United Nations emblem had unprofessionally killed himself. This is totally fictional. As a family we contend and contest this false representation in its entirety.
CONCLUSION
We are desperately in need of justice and demand that the truth be unravelled with the perpetrator arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
It is rather worrisome that despite that allegation of protest, no student and/or student leader(s) have been arrested in connection with the death of SP Amawu Gabriel Anang. At least one would have expected that the alleged protesting students/their leaders be arrested and thoroughly investigated with a view to uncovering the whole truth.
The students purported to have been detained have since been released. In less than 24hours after the incidence, a picture attached as Annexure 4 was taken. Thus, same clearly show that there was no detainee as at 11th March, 2020. From the attached picture, the detention board had carefully been cleaned up.
Based on the above, the testimony of Police Officers in Obudu vis-à-vis the publication (Annexure 1) by the Cross River State Police Command is totally untrue and unverifiable, same is a product of hasty conclusion. As a family we contend and contest same in their entirety, the false representation as per the report and all testimonies.
Once again, we are desperately in need of justice. Justice is all that we demand at this point. We seek that the real truth be unravelled with the perpetrators arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the laws.
To this end, we appeal very respectfully that you use your good office(s) to arrest, investigate and prosecute all Police Officers in Obudu, particularly, officers mentioned above and same include: Inspector Insp. Omini Ibiang (Station Guard), PC Edet Ansa (Orderly to the deceased Officer), ASP. Egbala Sunday (Station DCO), INSP. Arah Sunday (SO), ASP I. Egwa (Station 2 IC), Inspector Angelina Baggie (co-opted to falsely represent that she was the person who took the deceased officer to the Hospital). Other suspected officers Tony Odu (Station Chief Clerk), Sergeant Itoro etc., as well as every officer connected to the matter.
From the facts and circumstances of this case, these named persons have information as to the unlawful shooting, extra-judicial killing and gruesome murder of our deceased son, husband, father and brother – late SP Amawu, Gabriel Anang. Apart from the joint act of conspiracy, one of them should be able to reveal the fellow that released the trigger on the late officer.
Other personnel and officer in the Police Division should also promptly be investigated and interrogated with a view to ascertaining the whole truth.
We also demand that the SUG President of the Federal College of Education Obudu and all the students linked with this murder should be arrested, investigated and prosecuted where a prima facie case is made out against them. Their arrest and timely investigation will give preliminary insight into the unfortunate incidence. The students said to have been detained on the night of the incidence should as well be arrested, investigated and prosecuted where necessary.
The Commissioner of Police (CP Uwem Akpan) should be questioned and disciplined for the act of monumental neglect and laxity in this matter and above all, we demand that an independent Autopsy and Ballistic Analysis be conducted in this case. Those responsible for the hasty publication of Annexure 1 and misleading the general public without necessary verification and prior investigation of the matter should be disciplined as well.
Sir, we hold the view in accordance with our extant criminal laws that a case of Murder of this nature, especially, a case where a serving Police Officer was shot and murdered in cold blood at his own division, should not be treated with kid gloves. Truth be told, it is a direct confrontation on the integrity/prowess of the esteem institution of the Nigeria Police Force.
We demand for JUSTICE and request very respectfully that this matter be given accelerated and prompt attention.
On your request, we shall avail necessary information and further clarification as may be required.
Thank you and accept our warm regards.
Yours faithfully,
BENEDICT OBUO AMAWU, ESQ
(On behalf of the deceased family)
07031846089
Cc:
1. The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abuja.
2. The Executive Secretary, Human Right Commission, Abuja.
3. The President of Senate, through the Clerk of the National Assembly, Abuja.
4. The Director General, State Security Service (SSS), Abuja.
5. The Director Amnesty International, Nigeria.
6. The Ordinary President Ahmed Isah, Human Right Radio, Brekete Family, Abuja.
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