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#EndSARS: Woman Whose Husband Missing For Eight Years Demands N20m Compensation

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A woman, Rita Okungbowa, who appeared before the Edo State Judicial Panel of Inquiry for victims of SARS and related abuses, has asked the panel for N20 million compensation for the alleged death of her husband in the hands of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad, (SARS).

She had told the panel that it has been eight years since the operatives of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad, (SARS), invaded their house and whisked her husband away and his whereabouts has remained unknown to her.

Mrs. Okungbowa told the panel that her husband, a Bini movie director, Prince Osayande Okungbowa was tagged a kidnapper and was taken away by the men of the disbanded SARS and that every effort made to know which of the prisons he has been kept has proven abortive, noting that even when she displayed his photograph before other inmates, they all denied seeing person like him.

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Mrs. Okungbowa told the panel that having waited till date, she was left with no option than to conclude that he may have been killed by the men of the disbanded SARS.

READ ALSO: #EndSARS: 47-year-old Man Wrongly Paraded By Police Demands N50m Compensation

According to her “On the 12 day of September, 2012, the SARS came to my own house, and picked my husband, they alleged him to be a kidnapper.

“My mother-in-law and I went to the State Criminal Investigation Department, and immediately I mentioned the name of my husband, they drove us away. They did not allow us to see him.

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“The next day, we also came, they did not allow us to also see him.

“So, one of the police officers then told us that they have taken him to the court and thereafter, to the prison.

“I asked which of the prison, they said the white house (that is the maximum Correctional Centre at Sapele road), we went there, we did not see him, we went back to the station, but they later referred us to Oko Correctional Centre, and we did not see him there.

READ ALSO: #EndSARS: Edo Chief Demands N50b Compensation For Five Slain Youth, Wants Killer Cop Redeployed

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“So, I decided to take a lawyer, and when we got to the station, the OC then asked, who is in charge of the matter, they told us one Sergeant Esezobo was the Investigating Police Officer, IPO.

“When we asked for the said Esezobo, they said he has gone to the carteen and we went to the carteen and immediately he saw us, he ran away.

“So I have been going to the police station to search for him (my husband) and I have not set my eyes on him for the past eight years and because of that, I decided to approach the panel so that they can help me ask the disbanded SARS where they kept my husband.

“It is now eight years and some months”.

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The distraught woman pleaded with the panel to compel the SARS to compensate her to enable her give her children a better life.

“The panel should help me to tell them to provide my husband if he is still alive and if he is no more, the panel should compell them to come and settle me.

READ ALSO: EndSARS: Man, 59, Inspector Of Police Demand Compensation

“They should pay me N20million because I have been passing through hard times. Look at my two kids, they have not been going to school for a very long time.

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“In fact, even house rent, I can’t pay. I sleep in the church, Celestial Church of Christ, that is where I normally stay because there is no money to rent a house.

“I don’t have anything doing, I go out to wash people’s clothes just to survive, is that not painful?

“They should settle me with N20million so that I can start a good business and to also take my children back to good school”, she said.

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JUST IN: Crisis In UniAbuja As ASUU Faction Declares Indefinite Strike

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The University of Abuja branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has declared an indefinite strike.

The union announced its decision on Thursday during a congress held at the permanent site of the institution.

Sylvanus Ugoh, the chairman of UniAbuja ASUU, did not immediately respond to TheCable’s inquiries on the development.

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READ ALSO: BREAKIN: NDIC Increases Maximum Deposit Insurance Coverage

But Abubakar Kari, the UniAbuja student affairs dean and ex-convener of ASUU’s national political committee, said the varsity’s branch of the union issued a communique declaring “total and indefinite strike” over a lingering disagreement with the UniAbuja management.

The dispute, he said, borders on four issues including ASUU’s interest in a multi-stakeholder microfinance banking venture, promotion procedures in the absence of a governing council, election for faculty deanship, and alleged illegal appointments.

More to follow…

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Why Abia Policeman Dropped His Rifle, Uniform, Walked Away From His Job – Report

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An investigative journalist known as 99% Oppressed on X.com has raised concerns about the situation of a police officer, Ugochukwu Nwaso, attached to the Abia State Police Command.

According to the journalist who also claims to be a private investigator hated by all security agencies in Nigeria, Nwaso, a corporal in the force, resigned for yet-to-be-confirmed reasons.

In a tweet directed at the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, on Wednesday, the journalist who tweeted as @PIDOMNIGERIA, highlighted concerns about mental health issues and toxic work environments within the police force, emphasizing the need for those challenges to be urgently addressed to prevent further incidents.

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The journalist noted that all efforts by his fellow policemen to convince Nwaso against his action proved abortive as he was resolute in his decision.

READ ALSO: Drama As Outage Disrupts Power Minister’s Speech At N’Assembly

The journalist wrote, “Hello @Princemoye1, are you aware that a corporal in the Nigerian police @PoliceNG force, Ugochukwu Nwaso, attached to Abia State Police Command, went to his station in Umuahia, dropped his rifle, dropped his uniform, and all the things the Nigerian Police gave to him. He packed all his personal belongings in the station and left.

“He said that he is no more interested in being in the force. All efforts made to persuade him to change his mind proved abortive. What is the Nigerian police force doing as regards depression, mental health issues and toxic work environment?

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“So many police officers are battling one mental health issue or the other without the authorities knowing. Some are battling depression, that triggers them to commit murder. While some are being frustrated by their superiors at their place of work. They make life unbearable for them. The work is so toxic to them, that they easily transfer their aggression to innocent citizens whom they are paid to protect. Corporal Ugochukwu Nwaso a trained young man, who knows how to use firearms, will now be an ordinary civilian on the street.”

In response, the State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Maureen Chinaka, refuted the claim.

READ ALSO: Outrage, Protests In Edo Community Over Alleged Plan To Impose Traditional Ruler On Indigenes

She stated that the information was untrue, asserting that the officer in question was currently on active duty and had not tendered his resignation from the Force.

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She wrote, “This information is false. I want to clarify that Copral Ugochukwu Nwaso, serving at Eziama Division, Abia State Police Command, is currently on duty at his division and has not resigned from the force. He is still very much in service and stationed at his Division.”

Affirming the claim, the journalist went ahead to present a police wireless message by one Supol Eziama, confirming Nwaso’s resignation.

The police wireless message revealed that Nwaso resigned following a misunderstanding with a fellow police officer, ASP Onyinyechi Nwuju.

READ ALSO: Detained Binance Chief’s Wife Drags Nigeria Before US Parliament

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He wrote, “ASP Maureen Chinaka, @MaureenChinaka before @PIDOMNIGERIA posts anything on X, there must be evidential receipt at hand. You can ask about me if you want. But because you said my information is false, attached here is a Police @PoliceNG wireless message, confirming my claim about Corporal Ugochukwu Nwaso. Deny this if you can, I will post more evidence. @Princemoye1.”

The police wireless message read, “Be informed that today, at about 1530 hours, one F/NO. 520044 CPL Ugochukwu Nwaso dropped his rifle, uniform and packed his belongings and left the station that he was no more interested in the force following a misunderstanding with W/ASP Onyinyechi Nwuju. All efforts made to bring him back proved abortive. Above for your information please.”

In May 2023, a police officer, Corporal Fauzziyah Isiak, lamented how the Nigeria Police Force detained her after she put in her resignation.

Isiak, who narrated her ordeal on X.com, said after she submitted her resignation letter she was called into the office and was detained even as she disclosed that she was on her menses.

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The officer, who was also an entrepreneur at the time, lamented the treatment she received for wanting to resign. She said she never saw her plight coming as she never thought she’d be put in detention without interrogation.

 

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Police Probe Assault On Two Delta Varsity Students

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The Nigeria Police has condemned the assault on two yet-to-be-identified students of the Delta State University of Science and Technology, Ozoro, by some unidentified men suspected to be police officers.

This follows a viral video on X (formerly Twitter) which generated several reactions from police operatives.

The video, posted by an X user with the handle, ‘Ughellivibes’, on Monday, showed two scenes where some young men were being beaten with batons by police officers as onlookers gathered.

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READ ALSO: 14-year-old Boy Killed In London Sword Attack

Reacting to the incident, the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, condemned the act, stressing that the Force did not support any indecent and unprofessional conduct.

He, however, urged the Delta State Police Command to look into the incident and bring the perpetrators to book.

He said, “Look into this. We should be able to justify our actions always. The beating is condemned, not professional. Like I always say, the police have powers to arrest, search, enforce the law, and apply minimum force to carry out their operations, but such must be done with decorum, professionalism and proportionality. We don’t support any indecent and unprofessional conduct. No way.”

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READ ALSO: LIST: Nigerian Passport Ranked Among Worst Globally

Reacting to the incident, the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, demanded that members of the public provide the command with details of the victims.

Edafe wrote: “Please, whoever knows the victim should send him this number 09155570008 or any of our CRU lines.”

Efforts to contact Edafe to know more about the progress the police had made proved abortive, as several calls and texts sent to him were unanswered as of the time of filing this report.

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