A 50-year-old Nigerian police official, ASP Emmanuel Mbilla who has been in the Nigeria Police Force for 30 years and plans to retire by 2018 had gone completely blind following an attack by a naval rating, a warrant officer identified as Unaji Enejor, in the Kirikiri Area of Lagos State.
Meanwhile, it was disclosed that before the attack on Saturday, February 22, 2014, Mbilla couldn’t see with his left eye as a result of glaucoma.
Narrating the incident, Mbilla’s landlady, Mrs. Olasumbo Agunbiade, who was present during the tragic incident, said , “I am the landlady of the property at 25, Agunbiade Street, Kirikiri Town, Apapa. Emmanuel’s wife, Caroline, sells drinks right in front of the house. Around 3.30pm on February 22, Emmanuel and his wife were seated in front of the shop when a man in a red Honda car rammed into their shop.
“When Emmanuel accosted the driver, the man alighted from the vehicle and identified himself as a navy man and Emmanuel in turn, identified himself as a police officer. The man wanted to leave but Emmanuel told him that he could not leave without at least apologising and the navy man just used his car key to poke Emmanuel in the eye.
“Emmanuel fell to the floor and started screaming, ‘I have lost my sight’. When the navy man saw the severity of the injury he had inflicted on Emmanuel, he jumped into his car and sped off. However, as residents were chasing him, he drove into a gutter and we arrested him.”
About four hospitals where Mbilla was taken to for proper examination declared that he might not be able to see again, although he might get lucky if taken abroad for treatment.
However, narrating her ordeal since her husband went totally blind, Mbilla’s older wife, Patience, according to Punch reports, confessed that life had been difficult for the family since the incident.
While soliciting help from good citizens of the country she said, “I am asking Nigerians, the government, and especially that of Abia State to come to our aid. We are asking Senator Uche Chukwumerije, who represents Abia-North, to help us. We have been seriously affected and we have spent so much on my husband’s treatment. Also, we are demanding for justice for my husband.
“The Commissioner of Police is aware of the matter. Nobody is above the law. My husband did not fight the navy man but is now completely blind as a result of a savage and brutal yet unprovoked attack. Unfortunately, he was released while my husband was still in the hospital.”
Although the naval authorities were yet to hand in Enejor to the police, it was learnt that the the case file with number M4351 had been sent to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.
The Information Officer, Western Naval Command, Lt. Commander, Abdulsalam Sani, however, disclosed that the naval authorities are currently carrying out investigations into the matter.
“A report was made by the Nigeria Police in February and a board of inquiry was set up to make its findings on the matter and the culpability of the person. If the person is culpable, he will be tried and an appropriate punishment will be given to him,” he said.
