Police Brutality: Lawyer Writes NHRC Over Arrest, Detention, Threat To Life Of 5 Journalists In Delta

By Daniel Dafe

A lawyer based in Delta State, Barrister Oghenejabor Ikimi, has urged the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to commence investigation into the arrest and detention of five journalists in Delta State by the police.

In a petition signed by Ikimi and dated June 2, 2020, he added that the incidence occurred on Tuesday, the 26th day of May, 2020 when a team of men of the IGP Monitoring Unit clad in SARS, IGP Squad vest and led by one Detective Reuben Noah stormed the Press Centre of the Warri Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and in the process arrested the Correspondent of Daily Post Online, Mr. Matthew Omonigho after he denied knowledge of his colleague, Mr. Cletus Opukeme, who the said team were in search of to arrest.

According to Ikimi, Omonigho was severely assaulted by the police and his jeans trousers torn and belt cut before he was arrested and taken to the Police Area Command Office, Warri where he was dispossessed of his cell phone and then detained.

Mr. Ikimi said that other four journalists sent by Comrade Victor Okies Okpomor, Chairman, NUJ Warri Correspondents Chapel and Comrade Michael Ikeogwu, State Chairman, NUJ after a distress call from Omonigho were also arrested and detained when they arrived at the station to ascertain the offence of Omonigho.

He gave the names of the four journalists as Edeki Igafe (NAN Correspondent), Francis Sadhere (Business Day Correspondent), Onyekachukwu Meluwa (Punch Newspaper Correspondent) and Christopher Odamah (Delta Trumpet Correspondent).

The petition added: “It is our brief that on arriving the said Police Area Command, Warri the above four some were detained incommunicado by their Police abductors as the four some were also dispossessed of their cell phones without any formal charge.”

Continuing, Ikimi said that it took the intervention of the Delta State Police Commissioner, the Delta State NUJ Chairman and the NUJ Warri Correspondents Chapel Chairman to effect the release of the five journalists at about 12 midnight same day after several hours in police custody without any valid charge.

He said: “An interesting aspect of the above release of our clients was that Mr. Onyekachukwu Meluwa who was one of the detained journalists was asked by their Police abductors to sign the bail bond of the five journalists as a surety before administrative bail was granted.”

He added: “Our clients were released with further threats by their said Police abductors to the effect that they would again storm the Warri Press Centre should our clients fail to produce their said colleague, Mr. Cletus Opukeme, hence this petition to your office as the lives of our clients and that of their other colleagues at the NUJ Warri Correspondents Chapel seems to be in jeopardy.”

The fiery lawyer called on NHRC to immediately carryout an independent and an unbiased investigation into the above complaint of his clients with a view to punishing the erring policemen and to extracting a public apology from the Police High Command.