Ben Dunno, Warri
The Delta State police command has refuted the claim by the Omonuwa family that their deceased son, Samson, died from torture while in police custody, declaring that the deceased died as a result of Ulcer suffered after being granted bail.
Reacting to the family claim that their son died after being arrested and detained as the Enerhen Police Station before being transferred to the ‘B’ Division in Warri, where he was allegedly manhandled to the point of death, the Command Public relations Officer, DSP Andrew Aniamaka, said there was no iota of truth in the claim by the deceased family.
According to him, “Yes, One Samson Omonuwa, who had been identified as a member of a notorious cult group, Dominion and mentioned in all sorts of crimes committed between Warri, Udu and Enerhen axis, was recently arrested over an alleged assault on a victim and was subsequently arrested by the Enerhen police unit”.
“However due to his fact that he had been on wanted list of the police at the ‘B Division’ Okumagba Avenue in Warri, over high profile robber case that led to killing of a member of his gang during a shoot out with the police while he managed to escape, his case file was moved from Enerhen to ‘B Division’, to answer to the robbery case.
“It was on record that he was transferred to the ‘B Division’ on the 11th of May 2018, the same day he was arrested by the Enerhen police and on arrival at the ‘B Division’, he was immediately interrogated but after complaining of a severe Ulcer pain and after being monitored closely, he was granted bail and released to the mother for prompt medical attention the very next day”.
“So whatever must have have happened to him thereafter was no longer the police business as he was no longer in the police custody but that of his family members who took him to the hospital over his Ulcer condition from the police custody while still alive”, he stated.
DSP Aniamaka noted that it was therefore the height of irresponsibility for anybody to claim that the suspect died from torture when the record of his death are verifiable at the General hospital in Warri, where he was taken to be treated by the family after being released on bail.
While discountenancing the family claim as false, baseless and unfounded, they Command PPRO described the cooked up story of torture as another calculated attempt by some mischief makers to portray the image of the Nigerian Police Force in bad light before the public.
A look at the case file of the suspect however indicated that the deceased had been involved in all sorts of violent crimes including cultism, assault and stealing, malicious damages and armed robbery between the month of March and May this year.