THE Enugu-Ezike Lawyers Forum has condemned the murder of Miss Stella Ifeoma Abugu who was said to have been allegedly killed by the operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigerian Police Force, Abuja on 11th September, 2020.
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This is contained in a statement dated 28th day of September, 2020 signed by Prof. Uwakwe Abugu Chairman, Justice for Ifeoma Committee Enugu-Ezike Lawyers Forum, which was made available to TheNigeriaLawyer (TNL).
Meanwhile, it was noted that efforts are being put towards ensuring that the perpetrators are brought to book.
The statement reads:
PRESS STATEMENT ON THE DASTARDLY MURDER OF MISS STELLA IFEOMA ABUGU IN THE CUSTODY OF SPECIAL ANTI ROBBERY SQUAD (SARS), ABUJA
We are the umbrella body of all Lawyers of Enugu-Ezike indigenes, Igbo-Eze North LGA of Enugu State. We issued this Statement as the immediate relatives and mourners of the Late Miss STELLA IFEOMA ABUGU, a native of Ugbaike Community in Enuge-Ezike who was gruesomely murdered in the hands of the operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigerian Police Force, Abuja on 11th September, 2020. We also issue this Statement in pursuance of our oaths as legal practitioners to defend and promote the cause of justice and our bounding duty to seek justice for our sister, her immediate family, Enugu State and humanity in general.
We condemn in strongest and unmistaken terms, the inhumane and degrading treatment and consequent murder of our daughter in circumstances that conjure all trappings of illegality, unconstitutionalism, criminality, abuse of office and power, and man’s inhumanity to man. This is one death too many in the hands of the operatives of SARS as the Nigerian media is replete with reports of similar treatments and murder of other innocent Nigerians in different parts of the country.
Unfolding revelations from reliable sources indicate that three SARS operatives whose identities are still being shielded by the Nigerian Police Force, in the evening of 10th September, 2020 went to the residence of late Ifeoma and her fiance with the mission to arrest the man. On their arrival and finding that their target, the man, was not at home, they illegally and brazenly arrested and took away Ifeoma in lieu of her fiance. The following morning, 11th September, 2020 Ifeoma was already dead in their custody. And SARS operatives deposited her seriously violated body in the morgue.
We see the wasting of this budding and brimming young graduate, who just completed her National Youth Service, as the height of police brutality and arrant disregard of the lives of the citizens they are paid to protect. In the first place, the action of SARS operatives by arresting Ifeoma in place of her fiancé is out-rightly illegal and in clear breach of the law.
Section 7 of Adminstration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 unequivocally abolished any “arrest in lieu” in the following words: “No person shall be arrested in place of a suspect.” Secondly, what manner of inhumane and degrading treatments were meted out to Ifeoma that she died before the break of dawn, with her corpse revealing suspected physical and sexual assaults can hardly be justified under any guise.
We appreciate that, come what may, Ifeoma cannot be brought back to tell her story. But “circumstances” do not lie and this Forum is poised to get to the bottom of the matter through all legal and constitutional means available to us.
Consequently, the Forum calls on the Inspector General of Police(IGP) and the Police hierarchy to ensure transparency and diligence in the investigation of Ifeoma’s death. We equally enjoin the National Human Rights Commission to exert requisite pressure on the Police authorities to conduct credible investigations and ensure that no culprits are not shielded from appropriate punishment.
We assure the general public and, in particular, all the individuals, groups, institutions and other concerned citizens who are pained by Ifeoma’s death, that we shall, working in collaboration with relevant stakeholders and agencies, leave no stone unturned, to ensure that Ifeoma’s spirit get justice, the bereaved compensated, and the perpetrators brought to book.
We hereby register our recognition and appreciation of the efforts of some lawyers, individuals, groups and NGOs who have already initiated some steps towards getting justice for Ifeoma.
JUSTICE FOR IFEOMA MUST BE DONE, EVEN IF HEAVEN FALLS: FIAT JUSTICIA, RUAT COELUM!
Dated this 28th day of September, 2020
Signed:
Prof. Uwakwe Abugu
Chairman, Justice for Ifeoma Committee
Enugu-Ezike Lawyers Forum.
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