A police officer told the #EndSARS panel on Wednesday, March 23, 2022, that the police do not torture suspects, but only scare them to extract the truth from them.
Gambo Gadzama, an inspector, appeared to give testimony concerning a case of the alleged killing of one Obinna Jonah in a police detention facility in Abuja in January 2020.
The independent investigative panel set up by the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, in the aftermath of the October 2020 #EndSARS protest against police brutality, is probing cases of rights violation allegations allegedly committed by the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, and other police units.
Mr Gadzama, who appeared as a defence witness on Wednesday, told the panel that the suspect, Mr Jonah, was never tortured as alleged in the petition.
“Nobody tortured anybody. We don’t torture suspects, we only scare them with words like ‘I will beat you’ so they can confess,” Mr Gadzama told the panel.
Petition
Okechukwu Jonah, the suspect’s brother, had petitioned the panel alleging that his brother was killed extrajudicially by the police in 2020. He said the deceased person’s body had not been handed to the family for proper burial since then.
In his testimony, Mr Jonah narrated how members of his family searched for Mr Obinna at different police stations in Abuja but were told there is no record of his arrest or detention.
The panel had then summoned Mr Gadzama alongside other police officers named in the case to appear to tell their side of the story.
Defence
In his testimony, Mr Gadzama told the panel that Mr Obinna was arrested as a member of an armed robbery and cult gang on January 29, 2020, after the leader of the gang, Chikazor, confessed and named 13 individuals whom he claimed were members of the gang.
He added that Mr Obinna was indisposed at the time of his arrest and his condition worsened in detention.
“I was called the next day that he had slumped and, we rushed him to Area 1 police clinic,” Mr Gadzama said.
He added that Mr Obinna was confirmed dead on arrival at the clinic and his body was deposited at the Wuse General hospital mortuary by the investigating team leader.
He went on to say that they couldn’t do autopsy because they couldn’t track any of Mr Obinna’s relations.
Cross-examination
Fielding questions from members of the panel under cross-examination, Mr Gadzama said none of the 14 arrested suspects was tortured.
“Obinna was never tortured because he admitted to the allegations against him. Nobody tortured any of them,” Mr Gadzama said.
Mr Gadzama told the panel he did not know if the body of the deceased was still in the mortuary as he was not the one that deposited the body.
Background
Another respondent in the case, Adebayo Jogbo-jogbo, a deputy superintendent of police, had testified regarding the case given in December 2021.
Jogbo-jogbo had told the panel that Mr Obinna died after he slumped and was taken to hospital on January 31, 2020. He said he was rejected at the hospital because it coincided with the period of the COVID-19 pandemic as it was difficult to secure a bed space.
This claim was faulted by the petitioner’s lawyer who noted that Nigeria had not recorded any Covid-19 cases as of January 2020.
A suspect arrested along with the deceased, Abba Onuojha, had testified before the panel in December 2021 that he witnessed how the police had tortured Mr Obinna before he slumped and died.
Panel’s ruling
The panel ordered the police to find out if the deceased’s body is still at the mortuary.
Garba Tetengi, one of the panel members, who presided over the hearings, said the panel can only order the release of the corpse of a deceased after confirmation that it is still the mortuary.
The panel adjourned the matter until March 29 for the adoption of written addresses.
Source: TheParadise
