Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Commander of Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (F-SARS), in Rivers State, ACP Akin Fakorede, has debunked the allegation that late Dr. Ferry Gberegbe, was shot dead by police, alleging that the lecturer died of food poisoning.
Fakorede made the claims in Port Harcourt when he appeared for defence before the House of Representatives Joint Committees on Army, Police Affairs and Human Rights and Justice, who are in the state to investigate the activities of the police and army during the 2019 polls in Rivers.
The F-SARS commander in the state told the joint committees that the family of the deceased lecturer of the Ken Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, had denied police access to conduct an autopsy on the remains of the victim, who was killed during the March 9, governorship and House of Assembly elections
He also disclosed that Gberegbe had gunshot wound from a locally-made pistol, adding that he died of food poisoning, noting that the video on social media containing how Gberegbe was killed, was concocted, adding that it (the video) was done before the election.
Fakorede said: “The police is investigating the incident. But, the family of the man has refused to allow us to conduct an autopsy on the remains of the victim.
“Till now, the police Homicide Department has not seen the remains of the victim. We have visited the hospital and seen the doctor that handled the case.
“The victim must have been shot by his friends. He had a gunshot wound from a locally-made pistol, but died of food poisoning,” he emphasised.
Meanwhile, the leader and chairman of the team, Rimande Kwewum, noted that the essence of the exercise was to take legislative actions to correct the ills that were observed during the last elections in the state.
Kwewum assured that the team would not witch-hunt anyone in its report, adding that there was the need to straighten things in the state in the interest of the nation.
He said: “There are too many interests in what we are doing here. So, there is a need to straighten things out in the interest of this country.
“We will not suppress the truth in the interest of justice. The essence is to take legislative actions to correct. We are using the process to repair our system to ensure it does not occur again,” Kwewum stated.