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Compel police to release my husband’s corpse for burial, widow tells panel

By Ann Godwin, Port Harcourt
03 December 2020   |   3:32 am
A petitioner at the Rivers State Judicial Commission of Inquiry on police brutality, Mrs. Comfort Amiefori, yesterday, asked the panel to compel the State Police Command to release her husband’s corpse to his family members for burial.

Pensioner demands N200m in Rivers over colleague’s death

A petitioner at the Rivers State Judicial Commission of Inquiry on police brutality, Mrs. Comfort Amiefori, yesterday, asked the panel to compel the State Police Command to release her husband’s corpse to his family members for burial.

She alleged that her husband died in the custody of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Intelligence Unit at the Borokiri Police Station, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, in 2019.

Comfort narrated that the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Abua Police Station invited her late husband, Kinoye, who she said, was a friend to the DPO, but disclosed that the deceased never returned home after the visit.

She also accused the police officer in-charge of the case, Dauda Abraham, of forcing her to pay N300, 000 to get information on her late husband, adding that Kinoye’s remains was deposited at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) without her consent.

“On May 18, 2019, DPO of Abua/Odual called my husband on phone that he wanted to see him. When my husband got there, after some hours I called his line, but he didn’t pick.

“So I went back to the police station to ask after him and the DPO said my husband will return on Monday or Tuesday and when he did not return home, the next news I heard was that my husband was dead,” she narrated.

Comfort, who hails from Emilaghan community in Abua/Odual Council Area, however, appealed to the government and panel to compel Dauda and the police to release her husband’s corpse.

Chairman of the commission, Justice Chukwunenye Uriri (rtd.) adjourned the matter to December 9, 2020 for cross-examination by the police counsel.
Also, a 72-year-old pensioner, Fubara Briggs, has demanded N200m from the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) over the death of his friend, Monday Burabari, who he said, died after being tortured by a policeman attached to the company.

Briggs, who said he was the Chairman of Spy Police in the company, where the late Burabari also worked, explained that they both challenged the ill-treatment meted out on them by their black superiors after the exit of the white people who created the department to empower host communities.

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