Imo panel decries contempt by security personnel

Petitioner demands N120m from police for allegedly killing nephew
Imo State Commission of Inquiry into Police Brutality and Related Extra Judicial Killings has decried the failure of accused security personnel to appear before it to defend sundry allegations against them.

The Chairman, Justice Florence Duruoha-Igwe (rtd.), who lamented this at the weekend in Owerri during the 37th sitting of the commission before adjourning till March 3, 2021, described the attitude as “counter -productive.”

She wondered why the respondents were shying away from their defence, reminding them that “silence is consent.”

Her words: “I want to use this opportunity to implore all the respondents to put up their appearance, so that we will be able to wrap up the whole thing within the timeframe given to us.”

MEANWHILE, a petitioner, Sebastian Ireaka, has demanded N120 million damages from the police for allegedly killing his nephew, Ifeanyi Ireaka, of Okwukwu, Owerri West Council, Imo State.

In a petition, JCIP /52/ 2020, he had alleged that his nephew was shot dead in March 27, 1999, by Sgt. Godwin Egene, while on his way to the farm, hinting that they had, in line with the relevant laws 319 CID/223 13/04/99, reported the case to the command’s headquarters in Owerri.

In another development, the commission heard the matter between Ihebinachi Kemjika, an engineer from Ndihu Umuezekom, Amata, Ikeduru Council, and John Onuekwusi, a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP).

Kemjika, in his petition, alleged that the processes of Onuekwusi’s enthronement as the monarch of the above autonomous community mentioned “contestable and was got through dubious means.”

According to the claimant, the process of the monarch’s enthronement was a dangerous trend that could cause anarchy in future, if not addressed.