The family of late Mr Nelson Akporido Sini who died in B-Division, Warri Area Command of the Nigeria Police, on has cried out for justice, calling on the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris to bring the killers of their son to book. But the DPO of ‘B’ Division, Warri, Eyoh Aniete, who spoke to journalists denied the allegation, saying that the victim was a suspect of an alleged robbery, adding that he was shot on the leg while trying to escape from police custody.
The family who came out in their numbers to address journalists at the Warri Correspondents Chapel, Nigerian Union of Journalist (NUJ) Warri accused the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of “B” Division, Warri, CSP Eyoh Aniete for masterminding the killing of their son.
The Sini family had sent a petitioned to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Idris, the Police Service Commission and the Acting Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), alleging murder.
The petition which was channeled through their counsel, Oghenejabor Ikimi of Ikimi Oghenejabor & Co chambers based in Udu, pressed for the immediate arrest and prosecution of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of “B” Division, Warri, CSP Aniete.
Elder sister of the deceased, Mrs Bethel Afabor who narrated how her brother was killed said her younger brother, Nelson Akporido Sini, was allegedly shot in the leg and was allowed to bleed to death by the DPO and his men while his remains was later deposited at the Warri Central Hospital Morgue by another police officer simply identified as Akhigbe.
She claimed that the late Nelson Akporido who is the owner of Dynamos Barbing Plaza in Enerhen near Warri went for a service of songs held in honour of Chief David.O. Oghen, an in-law to the Sini Family at Ometan Street in Warri at about 5:30pm when he was arrested with two others and taken to the station.
She said, “Our family members and sympathizers were barred from entering the police station until the following day, Thursday March 17. We were later informed that the corpse of Akporido had been deposited at Warri Central Hospital morgue!”
On her part, Mrs Mary Odibo, a teacher and another sister of the deceased said that; “Our brother was killed by the Police last week Wednesday, less than 24 hours after we attended a service of songs of a relation. We are seeking for justice over the gruesome murder of our 30 years old son. My brother cannot come back to life, but we are asking for justice. Justice is what we are asking for so that innocent people will not die in the name of criminality. We buried our mother last November. Our brother was not a criminal. He feared Police so much, but at the end of the end, he was killed by Police”
Another member of the deceased family, Mr Joseph Sini, a lawyer, told journalists that the DPO allegedly shot Akporido Sini dead and arrested the two others, Efe Otikpo and Urhuemu Otikpo, over a purported stolen car on Wednesday, March 15, 2017.
He alleged that DPO Aniete was fond of killing innocent children, including one of their own, Akporido Sini and insisted that the Police Service Commission should prosecute the DPO and also pay compensation to the family in the interest of justice.
Meanwhile, a Warri-based human rights activist, Mr Oghenejabor Ikimi, has called on the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, to commence independent investigation into the matter.
Ikimi, the Executive Director of the Centre for the Vulnerable and Underprivileged, made the call in a statement made available to newsmen in Warri.
According to him, in the Nigerian Constitution, every person is innocent until proven guilty in a law court.
“It is in the light of the forgoing that we write this petition for you to commence an independent and unbiased investigation into the murder of an innocent and unarmed citizen. Justice delayed is justice denied,” he said.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Delta State Command, Mr Andrew Aniamaka, corroborated the DPO claims saying that “Nelson Akporido Sini and two others were were arrested in a Toyota Camry car with registration number Lagos F2349EKY belonging to one Chima Peter Chukwemeka which was snatched at Orerokpe in Okpe Local Government Area of the state some time in 2016.”
