By Romanus Okoye
The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Enquiry and Restitution for Victims of SARS related abuses and other matters yesterday said it will deliver judgment on the petition filed by Mrs Nzube Obiechina, sister to an alleged kidnapper, Evans and her husband, Ogechukwu on a later date.
Panel chairman, retired Justice Doris Okuwobi said the panel’s decision would be communicated with the parties when it is ready. The petitioners alleged that the woman, a school teacher was detained and tortured for 22 days in 2017.
Mrs Obiechina is younger sister of alleged kidnap kingpin, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike alias who has, since 2017, been facing multiple conspiracy, kidnapping, murder and attempted murder charges before several Lagos State High Courts.
The Obiechinas are seeking the enforcement of the N2million compensation awarded against the police by the Federal High Court in Lagos, following their ordeal.
Justice Okuwobi’s decision followed the submission of the Obiechinas’ final written address by their counsel, Mr Ogunkoya Ogungbeje and the Police’s opposing written address.
The school teacher and her husband first appeared before the panel on October 31.
Mrs Obiechina narrated how she was arrested by the now disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), detained, and tortured over a period of 22 days till she lost her two-month pregnancy.
The couple told the panel that the incident occurred in June 2017 after the operatives falsely labelled her a thief and kidnapper.
Mrs Ndubuisi, who spoke first, said she was two months pregnant at the time, but that during beatings, the men threatened to “force the baby out of me”.
She testified that following further trauma from the torture SARS operatives meted out on her husband during his second arrest in October 2017, she lost another pregnancy.
She said the SARS operatives also stole her husband’s N50,000 and compelled them to cough up N400,000 as bail, before they were freed.
She told the panel that the couple in 2017 sued the police at the Federal High Court in Lagos and won.
Justice Mohammed Idris ordered the Police to pay them N2million as compensation.
They also won at the Court of Appeal in Lagos in 2020 but the Police refused to comply with the judgment.
Mrs Ndubuisi identified some of her torturers as “Phillip Rilwan, Christian and Haruna Idowu”, all policemen attached to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Intelligence Response Team.
