The family of teenager shot and wounded by a policeman seek justice, narrating the incident, victim’s father, Chief Nta Asuquo, said his son, an SS II pupil of Government Science School, Henshaw Town, Calabar South, was shot by one of the members of a team of anti-robbery policemen from Efut Division, who stormed his compound to arrest his daughter.
He said, “My son’s ordeal started at about 2 pm on that fateful day when a team of anti-robbery policemen from Efut Division stormed my residence at 90, Edibe-Edibe Road, Calabar South, in a commando style to arrest one of my daughters, Miss Martha Asuquo, on a trumped up allegation of threatening the live of one of the neighbours.
“On arriving at the compound with a police pick-up van, the fierce-looking officers requested to arrest my daughter for allegedly assaulting one of the neighbours, a lady. I obliged.
“I was made to understand that my daughter had a misunderstanding with the lady, who decided to use her contacts with the police to arrest my daughter.
“When they came my daughter, Martha, was just coming out from the bathroom and the policemen insisted that she should follow them to the station. She pleaded with them to let her dress properly since she had just emerged from the bathroom.”
“In spite of the my pleading, the policemen refused and it was at that point that my son, Asuquo, now intervened and pleaded further with them to allow her sister wear her clothes so that she can follow them for interrogation. One of them quickly told my son to keep clear or he would shot him.
“But my son kept pleading with the policemen to allow his sister to dress up properly since she was just coming out from the bathroom. He (my son) told the policemen that it was not wise to drag her into the van with only wrapper around her waist and perhaps they felt provoked by my son’s insistence and opened fire on his leg.”
In an emotion-laden tone, Asuquo, said the leader of the team on seeing that his son was bleeding profusely ordered his men out of the compound and they jumped into their van and ran away.
However, he said with the help of the people around he was able to identify the officer that shot his son as Asuquo Ekpo with Force No 169385.
Looking as if the world had crumbled on him, Asuquo said, “I don’t know what next to do; my whole life is finished. Look at me and look at my son again. What have we done to deserve this kind of treatment from Nigerian Police? Now, my 16-year-old son has been amputated; how do we survive such ordeals and wickedness of the police?”
Weeping profusely, the father of the victim said, “I can’t imagine my son lying critically down at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital; I can’t believe that at this tender age my son’s leg will be cut off as a result of bullets fire by police.
“Life to me now is meaningless unless that police officer who shot my son is brought to book. Please, I want justice to be done because my son’s life can’t just be wasted for nothing. Already, I have contacted a lawyer to follow up the case before government will sweep it under the carpet.”
In a petition written on behalf of Asuquo and addressed to the state Commissioner for Police, Mr. Osita Ezechukwu, the Managing Partner of Uke-Eteh Chambers, Mr. Eriba Eriba, sought justice for the victim and his family.
Eriba described the action of the policeman as unwarranted. In the petition, dated April 30, 2012 and titled, A case of Malicious Shooting of Master Asuquo Nta Asuquo,” he said it was unfortunate that the Nigeria Police had not learnt any lesson, not even with the rebranding campaign of the acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar.
The counsel said, “It is disheartening and unfortunate to observe that in this present era where every sector in the country is being sanitised, a sergeant in the Nigeria Police can use a rifle recklessly on an unarmed civilian. It is against this background that we urge you to step into the matter and cause a discreet investigation to be carried out so that justice can be done.”
Meanwhile, SATURDAY PUNCH learnt that the police authorities had set up a panel to investigate the circumstances surrounding the alleged shooting of the teenager, who is currently at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital.
In his reaction to the matter, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Hogan Bassey, said, “We are aware of the incident. The victim was said to have resisted arrest. For now, the police are looking into the matter and very soon will make its findings public.”
PUNCH
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