Operatives of the Abia State Police Command have shot and killed a University student, Okezie Kingsley Chigozirim in Umuahia.
Lucky Okezie, a brother of the deceased said he was shot by the police while he was on his way to school over land dispute in their community
According to Lucky, an eye witness who was at the junction that morning told the family that after shooting their son, one of the masked police officers came close to his brother to confirm that he was a member of the community.
He said: “My brother Okezie Kingsley Chigozirm (KC) recently returned to our family house which is in Agbama Olokoro in Umuahia, Abia State because he enrolled in this theological school (Morris Cerullo Christian University) which is rather closer to home.
“Trouble started when a certain man named Okwudiri Godsday Onukaogu woke up one morning and began to make claims on some community owned landed properties.
According to him, his father owns the whole community space. This story he later changed by making the space specific.
“The community took him to court and won him. I have often heard his eldest brother and Uncle exclude themselves from these claims while making it clear that their brother and son is only being dubious and criminally minded because he made little cash.
“For this reason, it took the community by surprise in the early hours of 25th August 2021, when they saw masked police officers in the community believed to have come from CPS Umuahia who were providing security for Okwudiri and his thugs who came with their sledge hammer and other manual demolition equipment.
“Now I ask, how do you go about demolishing a man’s house without first serving him papers from the court? I ask because everyone whose door and window was knocked off during this process seemed so surprised. How did he even convince the police to provide him security for such an unlawful outing if he did not bribe them? Does it mean that the Nigerian police force is now into the business of selling justice to the highest bidder? So much to be uncovered.
“These men destroyed over twelve houses before some youths organized themselves and went to the area to know what was happening. These groups of young people and some elders who went with them were arrested and made to serve some dehumanizing punishments there by those masked men of the Nigerian police force who also encouraged the thugs to continue their demolition. It is necessary that I also categorically state here that looting of private properties by these thugs and demolition was inspected at the same time by these masked officers.
“The whole community was alerted and youths turned up in their numbers. They came in solidarity against the hired thugs and Okwudiri’s actions which made the Masked police officers release live bullets and tear gas to repel the angry youths. The police officers further observing that the youths were hungry for justice knew that it was not a battle they could win which made them leave the area.”
“It is however imperative for me to also state that my Brother KC was not murdered within the crisis zone as our landed property within this space was not even in any form of contention. KC was murdered on his way out of the community to school that morning from the junction that links Agbama to the main road (New Heaven junction). An eye witness who was at the junction that morning told my family that after shooting KC, one of the masked police officers with Okwudiri came close to my brother after he was shot possibly to confirm that he is a member of the community whose face Okwudiri knew before they went back into their van zooming off to their office to celebrate their blood shed victory. Another pictorial and video evidence will also be made available to show exactly where he was shot (his heart) to prove that it was aimed at killing him and by no means can be a stray bullet.
“I watched in utter amazement the police PPRO who dished out their pre-recorded lies and I asked myself if Justice can ever be found from any wing of the Nigerian police force.”
“The answer to this is one which I leave to myself to find as #Justice4KC must not be lost. I will find it either dead or alive.
“It is even more painful because I also have to explain to the Daughter who is just a year old that the Dad was murdered by men who were meant to protect him on his way to school one fateful morning after he spoke with her on a video call.”
