According to Premium Times three
police officers who brutalised an eight-month pregnant woman in Lagos are currently
undergoing trial.
Kenneth Nwosu, the
spokesperson of the Lagos state police command, disclosed on July 25, Saturday.
Nwosu said that the
policemen were arrested on July 21, Tuesday, after a complaint about their
alleged human rights abuse. He further stressed that the law would take its
cause on any member of the police force that committed any crime.
Meanwhile, the woman who
was assaulted, Chika Elekwachi, lost her new-born baby. According to a source,
the woman had complication as a result of the assault.
“The policemen were said to
have sprayed tear gas on the woman in her car following an argument arising
from the gridlock on the road.
“She was rushed to one Safe
Hands Hospital at Old Ojo Road, Amuwo Odofin where she was allegedly operated
upon but the baby died less than 48 hours later.
“Apparently the gas she
inhaled resulted in the complication and the subsequent surgery,” the sources
said.
Initial report published on
July 22, 2015
Daily Sun reports that the
policemen attached to the Satellite police division in Lagos allegedly stripped
the woman naked after accusing her of resisting arrest.
Chika who was rushed by her
family members to Safe Hands Hospital, narrated her horrible experience.
The woman told journalists
that about 8.pm that fateful day, she left two of her kids at home and was
going to a shop to buy some things for the house, when suddenly she noticed a
bus coming behind her.
“The bus obstructed me and
one of the occupants came out, pointed a gun at me and shouted that I should
park. He threatened to shoot if I didn’t park.
“When I discovered that
they were policemen, I tried to explain to them that I wanted to park my car,
so that I could enter the shop. This incident happened at Pako bus stop along
Ojo Road where there were so many tankers and lorries parked indiscriminately.
“I begged the one that was
putting on a black T-shirt to allow me to go, as I was pregnant. Then the next
thing was, he called me a prostitute. I was angry and reminded him that I am a
married woman with two kids. I warned him not to call me a prostitute again.
But the policeman dragged me down from the car, even as passers-by and my
friend were begging him to let me go.
“While I was screaming for
help, saying, ‘I am not a thief,’ they tore my trousers. I was not putting on
any underwear, so they stripped me naked. They were dragging me, saying I must
enter their vehicle, but I refused. They dragged me on the road, but I insisted
that I would go with them in my car. In the process, my legs and my stomach
were bruised,” she said.
Chika said that she was
dragged into the police vehicle and taken to the station although she was still
naked.
“On getting to the police
station, I pleaded with them to allow me get a cloth from the shop. I was
begging them so that I could meet any woman nearby to give me a wrapper because
I was naked. People around were asking me what happened, and I replied that the
policemen did that to me, even though I’m not a thief. Because, with the way I
was treated, one could mistake me for a thief. I had to bite one of the
policemen on the back.
“I then entered one
provision store near the station where I met a woman who gave me this gown. My
phone was in my vehicle and I told the police officers that they should allow
me call my people to inform them that I was at the station, but they refused. They
said I must be put in the cell. I was running around, trying to get a phone,
but no one would give me their phone because they thought I was a mad woman.
They were just looking at me.
“I then saw a young girl,
and I spoke to her in Igbo, telling her I was not a thief. She was the one that
gave me her phone and I called my sister, because her number was the one I
could easily recall,” she said.
Chika’s sister, Favour
Ifebuzor, who rushed down to the police station as soon as possible, found her
sister sitting on a pavement, looking weak.
“My sister was also
whispering to me that she was feeling weak. So she fell on the ground. And she
was crying, saying: “Oh my baby, my baby.” Then she started foaming in the
mouth. The policemen there were saying: “She is pretending. Let her stay there,
she is not serious.”
Ifebuzor said that she was
worried because the stomach of her pregnant sister protruded straight and her
body was getting cold. Although she was begging police officers to help her put
Chika in a vehicle, they were just looking at her.
“I then told the policemen
that I was taking her to the hospital, and that if anything happened to her, I
would hold them responsible. The vehicle had already left. They took her to
Safe Hands Hospital, and my husband and I walked to the hospital. When we got
here, the doctor told us she was going into labour,” Ifebuzor said.
Doctor on duty, Okoawo
Innocent, who was speaking on behalf of the hospital’s management, confirmed
that the pregnant woman was rushed into the hospital. He noted that they
carried out all necessary tests, which showed that the baby was intact.
However, the doctor’s
assertion was proved wrong, as Chika soon started bleeding. The woman was
wheeled into the operation theatre where the baby was forced out of her.
It was gathered that the
baby is alive but in an incubator.
Meanwhile, Kenneth Nwosu,
the spokesman of Lagos state police command, confirmed the incident and noted
that investigation was ongoing. He revealed that the suspected policemen had
been arrested and would be prosecuted.
Premium Times
Daily Sun
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