THE Ikoku Five was a notorious case that attracted opprobrium to the police in Rivers State. Chima Ikwunado, Victor Ogbonna, Osaze Friday, Ifeanyi Osuji, and Ifeanyi Onyekewere were arrested in December 2019 by operatives of Eagle Crack, a special police squad under the Rivers State police command.
Chima was an automobile repairer, popularly called mechanic while the four others arrested with him were his apprentices.
They were driving against traffic while testing a car owned by one of their customers when the police operatives arrested them, hence they thought they were held for committing a traffic offence. But when they were taken to the Mile 1 Police Station in Port Harcourt, they were shocked when the police slammed allegations of cultism and robbery on them.
The policemen who whisked them away reportedly took all their valuables, including cash worth over N90,000. In fact, before Chima and his boys could utter a word, they found themselves in a police cell.
The police claimed that they were cultists and that they stole the car they were driving against traffic at the point of their arrest. They denied the allegations and invited the owner of the car identified as Phil, who corroborated their narratives that he gave them the car for repairs. But the policemen were not satisfied.
The policemen identified as Ayogu Fidelis, Rose Georgewill, Eke Chibuzor and Egbunefu Felix allegedly subjected Chima and his colleagues to inhuman treatment. In fact, Chima was said to have been subjected to unimaginable torture by the policemen. His legs were broken, his hands twisted and even his genitals were allegedly violently attacked by the female cop among the accused policemen.
Chima, whose wife was said to be heavily pregnant at the time they were arrested, could not walk or even sit down because of the injuries he sustained from the torure.
All efforts by the police to implicate Chima and his colleagues were abortive as the magistrate Court sitting in Port Harcourt asked the police to release them.
Unfortunately, Chima’s travails culminated in his death as he could no longer cope with the police brutality. His death sparked a national outrage. Civil society organisations, human rights activists, concerned individuals and the general public rose in unison against the police authorities. They held various protests, marched the streets and demanded that the policemen behind the killing should be fished out and made to face the wrath of the law.
But the police authorities were not forthcoming as they dragged their feet. Indeed, the former leadership of the state police command could not muster the needed courage to deal with the issues.
But the late Chima’s pregnant wife, Adaugo, who was later delivered of a baby boy, and the other automobile repairers sustained their protests.
Respite, however, came the way of the bereaved family following the new Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mukan’s zero tolerance for human rights abuse. The indicted policemen were dismissed from the force and were recently arraigned before a Magistrate’s Court.
The Magistrate’s Court sitting in Port Harcourt remanded four of the policemen in the correctional centre for allegedly torturing Chima Ikwunado to death. They were arraigned on a seven-count charge of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and unlawful assault.
They, however, pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them. The Chief Magistrate, Promise Iruanya, who declined to grant the suspects bail, remanded them in the correctional centre and ordered that the case file be transferred to the Directorate of Public Prosecution for legal advice.
Iroanya added that the court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the matter and adjourned the case to September 19 for legal advice. The Magistrate explained that while the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain count one to three of the charges, count four to seven could be handled by it.
The prosecutor, R. Queensoap, told the court that the offenses committed by the accused persons were punishable under sections 324, 319(1), 320, 335 and 351 of the Criminal Code, Cap 37, Vol. II, Laws of Rivers State of Nigeria 1999.
Speaking outside the courtroom, the lawyer to the deceased’s family, Chinyere Lawrence, confirmed that only four of the eight indicted policemen were brought to court.
He said: “From the time we were briefed, we wrote to the Police on the 7th of January 2020 and complained that several police officers were involved in torturing Chima Ikwunado to death.
“When those who were tortured together with Chima, came out of prison, they told us that the police officers that tortured them were more than eight. So, we are surprised and the complainants are not happy that today, only four defendants were brought to court, and we brought this to the notice of the court.”
But David Abuo, the lawyer to Ayogu Fidelis and Rose George will, accused the media of preempting the court against his clients.
He said: “What has been happening, especially on the radio, the fourth defendant (Rose Georgewill) is accused of fondling with the private part of the deceased and she has not had the opportunity to explain herself.
“Media trial is a situation where the media continue to take one-sided information against a defendant who has not been found guilty. Only the court has the power to hear from both sides and draw a conclusion. Hence the media should be more circumspect and careful in accepting certain information about someone accused of committing a crime.”
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