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The Extra –judicial, Summary
And Arbitrary Execution Of Chief Onokpite:Perpetrators
Must
Be Brought To Justice
By Udume Ochuko Press statement
Tue Nov 29,2011
Hafiz Ringim:IGP
This world press
conference by us, Deltans For Justice, a group of conscientious
Deltans is to invite the attention and intervention of the
President of the Government of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan, the National Assembly, well meaning Nigerians and the
international community to the grave concerns of Deltans about
what look like state and police sponsored and organized
assassination of Chief Ogbe Onokpite, a very successful
businessman, principled opposition leader, politician, husband,
father and a vibrant young Deltan, a true Deltan, the pride of
the irrepressible Uvwie Youths, who came, saw, fought and
refused to be quiet in the face of tyranny. A detribalized
Deltan who was cleared by the State Security Service (SSS) and
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and indeed
contested twice for the position of Governor of Delta State as a
candidate of the Citizens Peoples Party (CPP) in Delta State
Governorship election in 2007 and January 2011 gubernatorial
elections against the current Governor of Delta State, Dr.
Emmanuel Ewetan Uduaghan. On November 26, 2011, Chief Ogbe
Onokpite hotel was invaded by civilians and police security
personnel who shot his two legs and thereafter took him away to
the Police Area Command, Warri, where he was thoroughly beaten
to stupor, dehumanized, stripped completely naked, humiliated,
shot on both legs and then summary executed. He was then scorned
upon and photographed naked and pasted online for the whole
world to see him as a common criminal.
The Commissioner of
Police, Delta State Command, Mr. Ibrahim Tsafe then came out to
report on the day of the assassination that they had
intelligence that Chief Onokpite was in the process of
purchasing arms and he was intercepted and he was killed during
exchange of gun fire, he later made a volte face to say Chief
Onokpite and his 'accomplices were ambushed by the police
detectives who were deployed in the hotel from the Area Command
of the Nigeria Police Force, Warri while he was negotiating for
arms in the hotel...he further said that “as he (Chief Ogbe) was
coming down from the hotel we asked him to surrender but he
declined to surrender, instead he confronted the police in
company with his men”. The CP said that a gun duel ensued and
“in the process, Onokpite sustained injury and he died before
help could get to him in the hospital”.
Many of us are concerned
about the lies of the police account. The question we raise here
immediately is who set up Chief Onokpite? Who provided the
'intelligence' – is it not the same state government that has
being hounding him? Is Chief Onokpite not a political rival of
the State Governor? Was Chief Onokpite not actually shot in his
hotel unarmed? Is the hotel not owned by a popular P.D.P
chieftain? Was he not beaten to stupor and tortured rabidly at
back of the Area Commander’s office and his corpse dumped there?
Did he not bleed to death behind the Area Commander’s office?
Who drove the Hilux pick up used for the operation from and back
to the Police Area Command? Who own the Hilux Pick up? Who is
Jide?
Here are some facts made
available to us after the murder:
Chief Ogbe Onokpite
delivered his Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State, which
was predominantly the State Government political enclave before
the April 2011 elections to Chief Great Ogboru's Democratic
People’s Party (DPP). He wrestled the Delta State House of
Assembly seat from the former incumbent who is from the
government party and replaced him through the General Election
of April 2011 with the DPP candidate and trashed the current
Government party in the Governorship Election by delivering
about 36,000 votes to Chief Great Ogboru's against the
Governor’s about 6,000 votes.
Thereafter, following
instruction from above, Chief Ogbe Onokpite was arrested during
result collation at INEC premises in Asaba on April 26, 2011
(the Governor Election Day) after he challenged the manipulation
of results that were being collated at the centre, he was
immediately hounded to the nearest judge/ court and thrown into
Okere Maximum Prison, Warri on a trump up charge of murder for
over 2 months. Chief Onokpite submitted himself courageously to
all manners of humiliating investigations during this period
until he was acquitted and the case was discharged and
dismissed.
After Chief Onokpite was
released from prison the state government and the anointed
candidate by state government party for positioned of the next
Uvwie Local Government Chairman and their accomplices are said
to have become jittery that if Chief Onokpite remain alive, the
dream of winning back the local government will never be
fulfilled until something is done to curb the perceived
political albatross, Chief Onokpite whom they know to be the
Uvwie political colossus. All efforts thereafter to get a highly
principled Onokpite to play ball failed.
This is where we believe
that the last minute arrangement to set him up for a trumped-up
allegations of gun running, armed robbery and kidnapping to
effectively assassinate him was hatched and eventually organized
and sponsored by the state government with the full cooperation
of the Police Area Command, Warri. We believe that the entire
operation was masterminded by one of the state government big
boy because like the voice of Jacob and the hand of Esau, the
entire operations was coordinated by one of his dare devil
executioner, a dismissed soldier “Jide” who personally drove the
State Government Security Hilux provided by his master and
loaded with policemen provided by Police Area Commander Warri.
They then invaded his
hotel premises in commando style where Chief Onokpite was
thoroughly beaten, dehumanized, stripped naked, humiliated, shot
on both legs and then killed. Thereafter he was photographed
naked and pasted online for the whole world to see him as a
common criminal. This is exactly what we believe happened to
Chief Ogbe Onokpite as the story has been told.
The questions that
emanate from this well orchestrated barbaric extrajudicial and
summary execution are:
When and was any
petition received by the police in respect of this allegation
that was earlier investigated?
Assuming the late Chief
Ogbe Onokpite actually deals with arms or committed any the
crime, does that give the CP, Area Commander and ‘Jide’ the
rights to assassinate him?
Assuming he was a
gun-runner, so he was beaten and tortured before he was shot
dead?
If what is reported is
true, must the police take the law into their own hands?
If what is reported is
true, then why did the Police take his body all the way to Warri
Area Command office about 13 kilometers away when the Orhuworun
Divisional Police Headquarter State is less than a kilometer
away?
If what is reported is
true, why did the police not rush him to Orhuworun General
Hospital also about a kilometer away from the incident venue?
The extrajudicial
execution of Chief Ogbe Onokpite has been laced with endless
lies by the police and the state government, but they have left
more gaps and questions than facts. The CP Delta State within 24
hours of this summary and arbitrary execution goofed and painted
two contradictory scenarios about this dastardly unlawful
killing.
Chief Onokpite is widely
known for his strong and constructive criticism of the Delta
State Government over corruption, ineptitude, bad governance,
injustice and lack of development.
Delta State is vastly
one of Nigeria’s most dangerous states for critics: several
critics of the state government have been silenced, raped,
discriminated upon, sacked, dismissed, impoverished, ostracized,
sidelined, implicated in murder, robbery, and others have been
slain in targeted killing operations and arranged road
accidents, kidnapping and abduction. There has been a lamentable
degree of impunity in the state since 2007.
It is extremely shameful
that because of it complicity, the state government has not been
able to come out with any official statement, neither have they
ever recognized that there are several human rights violations
in the state including this severe one and other ongoing illegal
killings, “police checkpoint /vigilante justice” militias
operations and other death squads.
We call on the President
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR,
to direct the Inspector General of Police to:
Suspend with immediate
effect, the Commissioner of Police, Delta State for his role in
this extrajudicial execution of Chief Onokpite.
Immediate suspension,
arrest and prosecution of the Police Area Commander, Warri and
the ‘questionable team’, for their neck deep complicity in this
extrajudicial execution.
Immediate arrest and
prosecution of the Mr. ‘Jide’ and his boss Mr. Ayiri Emami, the
Aspirant for Uvwie Local Government Chairmanship Mr. Henry Baro
who has been on the run together with his group for their neck
deep involvement in this extrajudicial execution.
Urge the IG Monitoring
Team from Abuja and the Police authorities to invite independent
forensic experts to assist in the investigation and ensure that
any prosecutions that are brought are solidly supported by all
available forensic and other evidence.
Commission a Judicial
Panel for an independent probe into the assassination of Chief
Ogbe Onokpite. For the inquiry to be credible, it must be
independent of the Delta State Government officials and Delta
State Police Command officials, it must be given full legal
authority to investigate, and its final report must be made
public. It must be able to interview all key witnesses,
including civilian, police and military personnel, the hotel
owner and members of staff and that it should have access to all
photographs, video and other records of the incident, including
those confiscated from civilians. The Judicial Panel must be
given a genuine capacity to find the facts or it would not be
credible.
We further call on Mr.
President and on all well meaning Nigerian, Nigeria institutions
and all international agencies in particular, Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch, Center for Human Rights and
Global Justice, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on
extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, all embassies
and high commissions in Nigeria and world leaders to condemn
this barbaric assassination and take steps to ensure that the
perpetrators are brought to immediate justice.
We believe that
injustice to one is injustice to all.
Udume Ochuko,
Spokesperson, DELTANS FOR JUSTICE
Th
This is the document referred to in the Witness
Statement on Oath of Clifford O. Kokogho as
“Exhibit
COK.2”
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