Giving evidence before the panel constituted by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Igwetu said that her late sister, Miss Linda Igwetu, was out celebrating with friends, her completion of the NYSC scheme when killed on July 3, 2018.
Lady,
Chinenye Igwetu, on Thursday in Abuja appeared before the Panel of Inquiry into
extrajudicial killings and police brutality to seek justice for her sister
allegedly killed by the police.
According to
her, the NYSC passing out parade was on July 4, 2018, and Linda sent a whatsapp
message to inform her that she was going out to celebrate with friends, Mr
Arafa and Mr Tobi after closing from work.
The
petitioner stated that when she woke up at about 2am to use the restroom, she
did not see the deceased, who was staying with her at her residence at Utako
area of Abuja.
“At about
4:30am, I got a call, it was Mr Tobi who called and asked me to come to Garki
Hospital. I went there with my neighbour, Maureen, who heard when I screamed.
“When we got
there, we saw many police personnel. Tobi was handcuffed and was drenched in
blood.
“Tobi said
that on their way from Ceedi Plaza, they heard a sound and he thought it was
the car tyre that burst.
He further
said that my sister was sitting at the back seat, while Arafat was with him in
the front,” Igwetu narrated amidst tears to the panel.
She said that
she was told by Tobi that he saw her sister holding her breasts and that it was
then they realised that it was a gunshot they heard.
“The gunshot
hit my sister from the back and came out below her breast,” the petitioner told
the panel.
Igwetu stated
that it was a policewoman who took her aside at the Garki Hospital and
explained what happened to her, adding “the woman said if it was Ceedi Plaza,
it must be Inspector Benjamin Peters who shot the gun.”
She said that
the hospital personnel told her that her sister had lost a lot of blood and
needed to be transfused,.
The
petitioner said that though she volunteered to donate blood but the hospital
personnel told her that a woman cannot donate blood and that she should look
for a male to do so.
Igwetu said
that though she made frantic efforts to get a male donor, however, before help
could come she was summoned from the hospital and informed that her sister had
died at 6.10am on July 4, 2018.
She said
further that the female police officer took them to the Police Service
Commission where she lodged a complaint against the said Insp Benjamin Peters.
When asked by
the chairman of the panel, Justice Suleiman Galadima (Retired), what she
wanted, Igwetu said justice for her sister.
I want
justice for my sister. I want my family to be compensated even though no amount
of money can bring back my sister. She had many dreams,” she pleaded.
Galadima
ordered that days proceedings should be typed and made available to the
respondents, the Inspector-General of Police, the FCT Commissioner of Police
and Inspector Benjamin Peters.
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