Today makes it 15 years since 5 traders along with their female friend were brutally murdered by men of the Nigerian Police Force led by then Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Danjuma Ibrahim at gimbiya street, Garriki Abuja
The 6 victims were
(1)Ifeanyi Ozor, (2)Chinedu Meniru, (3) Anthony Nwokike, (4) Paulinus Ogbonna, (5) Ekene Isaac Mgbe and (6) Augustina Arebu the only female victim and fiance to Ifeanyi Ozor. All six were traders at the Apo auto spare parts market, Abuja.They were killed because DCP Danjuma made romantic advances to the only lady among them, Augustina Arebu, at a night club, which she turned down.
A minor disagreement ensued between the guys and the officer who stormed out of the night club to the nearby police checkpointwhere he told the police men on duty that there were armed robbers in the area. When the APO6 drove to the checkpoint, Danjuma blocked them with his vehicle and ordered the junior police men on duty to open fire on them which they did.
Four of the APO6 were killed on the spot.The remaining two, the lady, Augustina Arebu and another male, were killed the following day.
The lady was strangled to death by officer Danjuma.
This is according to the findings of the govtJudicial Commission of Inquiry set up by OBJ and headed by justice O.O Goodluck.Immediately after the killings, officer Danjuma got arms from the Garriki police station and planted inside the Peugeot 406 car of the victims with a view to creating a false narrative that the innocent traders were armed robbers killed by the Police during a shoot out.
However, the Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up by the then F.G established through police testimonies that DCP Danjuma led other officers and men in killing the six victims including strangling the only female amongst them and burying their bodies in shallow graves.
The commission also found that P.C Anthony Edem, who was part of the killer squad and had earlier testified against the police and was to testify again the coming Monday died on a Sunday night after going out to drink with some of his fellow policemen the previous Saturday.An autopsy report from Abuja national hospital found out he was poisoned.
In a nutshell, the Nigerian Police Force, after killing 6 innocent traders also killed one of its men in order to cover up its gruesome crime of murder of the APO6. Read that again. Slowly, please.On the basis of evidence b4 the Comm. of inquiry, the underlisted names were submitted for trial;
1. DCP Danjuma Ibrahim;
2. DPO Othman Abdusalam
3. Inspector Suleiman Audu
4. Ezekiel Acheneje
5. PC Sadiq Salami
6. PC Dennis Asawa
7. Emmanuel Baba and;
8. ASP Nicholas Zachariah.
Three years ago, Justice Ishaq Bello of the FCT High Court, Abuja, sentenced two junior police men to death for the APO 6 killing but the same court said there was not enough evidence to convict the senior officer Danjuma who the convicted officers fingered in the killingDCP Danjuma has since been officially re-instated into the Nigerian police force and has been paid all arrears of salaries and other entitlements dating back to 2005 and sent on a refresher course.
HE HAS BEEN PROMOTED TO AN ASSISTANT INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE (AIG)Meanwhile, according to legal experts, the March 9 judgement acquiting Danjuma can be appealed but it is only the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, that can either appeal the ruling or issue an ‘extended fiat’ to another lawyer to go ahead with the appealThree years after, Attorney General, Mr Malami has refused to either appeal or give the legal nod for another lawyer to do so.
And so the endless search for justice lingers on. BUT WE REMEMBER, NEVER TO FORGET.
By Ogbu Charles
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