Following an autopsy on the late officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Ochigbo Ogah allegedly killed by the Police, the result has revealed that his death was as a result of force and continuous torture.
This is contrary to claims by the Police that late Ochigbo Ogah Jumbo slumped and died while in their custody.
The late Jumbo, an Assistant Superintendent of NSCDC was March 20 reportedly killed by some police officers in the presence of his wife and kids in Nyanya, Abuja.
The Police, through the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Frank Mba, swiftly dispelled the allegation, saying the late Jumbo slumped after driving himself to Nyanya Police station.
Mba had said: “He was arrested and he drove himself to the police station with immediate members of his family, who were with him at the time of arrest and a Traffic Warden in his own car.
“Traffic Wardens are not conventional police personnel; that is why they wear yellow top for easy identification. They don’t bear arms either.”
The police spokesman also denied that the late Jumbo was battered by his men, claiming that “there was no sign of physical assault on the deceased”.
After unrelenting clamour by concerned members of the public and Jumbo’s family, Mohammed Adamu, Inspector General of Police, ordered a comprehensive and speedy investigation into the circumstances of the death.
The result of an autopsy conducted at the Maitama General Hospital on 26th March 2019, revealed that late Jumbo died after suffering from “blunt force injury to the head and cerebral oedema” during the police brutality.
“Death was due to the blunt force injury to the head. He was said to have been involved in an altercation with Traffic Wardens at the Traffic control point on “Redeemed Junction” along Nyanya–Karshi Road, at about 7.25am on March 20, which led to his receiving repeated blows to the head and body with fists and batons, both there and later on in the police station. He collapsed and was taken first to Nyanya General Hospital, and then to Asokoro District Hospital, Abuja where he was certified dead by 10.30am that same day,” the report reads.
“The brain was swollen as evidenced by widening of the folds of brain tissue (gyri), and narrowing of the spaces in between these folds (sulci). In medical parlance, this is referred to as cerebral oedema. Blunt force injury to the head is a well-recognized cause of cerebral oedema, a condition in which there is severe impairment of brain function. This was the cause of his death.”
The report also revealed that the deceased suffered multiple skin and soft tissue injuries. “Forehead and Face: Bruise on the right forehead, 1cm above the lateral aspect of right eyebrow, measuring 2.5 x 1cm.
“Bruise on the lateral aspect of the skin of the left eye socket, 1.5cm below the left eye, measuring 1.5 x 0.5cm,” it stated.
“Left Upper Limb: Diagonal scratch injury, on the flexor aspect of the left arm, starting medially, 3cm above the popliteal fossa, and extending upwards and laterally for 5.5cm.
“Lower Limbs: Bruise on the central portion of the right knee cap, measuring 2 x 1.5cm. Bruise on the right leg, 4cm below the knee cap, measuring 2 x 1.5cm.
“Two bruises, next to each other (above and below), just beneath the left knee cap, measuring 1.5 x 1.2cm and 1.5 x 1.5cm respectively. Bruise on the tip of the right big toe, measuring 1.5 x 0.5cm.
“Avulsion injury of the tip of the left big toe, measuring 1.5 x 0.9 x 0.5cm. Bruise on the medial aspect of the left 2nd toe, measuring 1 x 0.7cm”.
SaharaReporters also added that: “after unsuccessful efforts to speak with Mr Mba, he responded to a text message directing our correspondent to speak to the Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, CP Bala Ciroma or his PRO
“When contacted through a phone call, the Police Public Relations Officer for FCT Command, DSP Manzah Anjuguri, said he could not respond to any official matter as he was undergoing a course
“Ada Jumbo, wife of the deceased, in an extract obtained from her statement, said her husband was dragged on the floor for several metres after he was mercilessly hit on the head with a batton.
“A family source also told our reporter that the Police authority had never visited nor shown sympathy to the family almost a month when “their breadwinner was gruesomely murdered”, it said. – The Whistler.ng