Wife of Slain Journalist Allegedly Killed During Shiite Protest By Police Accuses IGP Of Frustrating Investigation
Francisca, the wife of slain journalist Alex Ogbu, has accused the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, and FCT Commissioner of Police, Bala Ciroma, of cover-up and attempting to frustrate the investigation surrounding the death of her husband.
She alleged that they planned to delay the investigation so that she would lose interest in the matter.
Ogbu was shot in the head by a policeman while covering a protest by members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) on January 21, 2020, at Berger roundabouts in Abuja.
The police had claimed that the journalist died after hitting his head on a stone and not killed by a bullet.
Francisca, who spoke to SaharaReporters on Wednesday in Abuja, said the commissioner and IGP had continued to toss her around whenever she visited the command in an attempt to know the progress of the investigation.
“Whenever I go to the office of the commissioner, he will tell me that the matter was already before the IGP and he cannot interfere in the case any longer,” she said.
“I asked him what the next thing is but he said he doesn’t know and that the investigation was going and he asked us to leave.”
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SaharaReporters found that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which handled the case, had concluded the investigation.
The investigators absolved all the officers in the operation of any wrongdoing, concluding that no officer was found guilty.
But Francisca said she would not be deterred, irrespective of the delay tactics employed by the police to sweep the matter under the carpet. She vowed to pursue justice for her late husband.
“I know I am alone in this matter with my baby, no help from anybody. I will not give up on this matter until I get justice for my husband, even if it takes ten years. The police believed that with time the whole thing would die down and nobody would ask questions again. But they are joking. I will not be tired.
She said that “the autopsy report confirmed ‘brain evisceration’ as the direct cause of Ogbu’s death and that he was killed by bullet contrary to the claim by police authorities that he died after hitting his head on the stone.”
A human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has filed a case at the high court in Abuja on behalf of Francisca, seeking for an order of the court that the extrajudicial killing of the journalist by police was wrong, oppressive, oppressive and illegal.
Falana also sought an order mandating the respondents to set up a special education fund not less than N100m in value through the registry of the court in favour of Ehikowejo Ogbu (2 years old ), the only biological daughter of late Ogbu.
A petition was also sent to the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges and Public Opinion on March 15, for investigation but till date, the matter has not been deliberated upon.
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SaharaReporters, New York
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