by crossriverwatch admin
A widow and mother of Maurice Derek, one of the victims of the extra judicial killing by a gang of fourteen killer policemen in Calabar has called on police authorities to expedite action on their trial in court.
After a police orderly room trial found guilty, fourteen policemen from Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS Calabar over the murder of Mr. Derek Maurice Ben and five others extra judicially, eleven of them were dismissed on 27th August, 2014 and three who are senior officers are awaiting their dismissal from the Police Service Commission in Abuja.
Police authorities in Calabar had told CrossRiverWatch that they were waiting for the Courts in Calabar to resume so that the dismissed killer cops, who are still in detention at the Zone 6 headquarters, will be arraigned for murder.
Now that the Chief Judge of the State has officially opened the new legal year in Calabar, on Monday September 15, 2014, Mrs. Enang is calling on the police authorities to expedite the trial of those who killed her son.
In a statement made available to CrossRiverWatch, the bereaved mother said: “I, Mrs. Enang, a widow and Mother of late Derek Maurice Ben, whom Sgt Anthony Idoko vehemently promised and threatened to label a cultist or robber and deal with, a threat he eventually actualized making me have unending nightmares is sincerely grateful to the media, CrossRiverWatch and Punch Newspaper in particular and everyone who played a role or two in this case of my beloved Derek who was supposed to be 22 years old that same April he was killed by the gang of 14 dark hearted/cold hearted policemen sustained with tax payers money.
“I want to also thank the Ministry of Justice and the Nigerian Police Force for standing on the side of truth irrespective of the pressure from negative quarters which so far translated to the dismissal of the eleven junior officers and proceeding to do same with the three left. Your effort will never go unrewarded by the one who never sleeps, God Almighty.
“In the spirit of oneness, I humbly urge the Police Service Commission to expedite action on the remaining three Senior Officers to ensure justice is done, as this has created room for the culprit to console themselves feeling that they will be released since according to them this case is not the first of its kind, and that they had sent delegation to those politicians and others they had sometime done dirty job’s for to mount pressure on the Ministry of Justice, the State Chief Judge and others to see a way of giving them soft landing, while some policemen who are their likes that are still in service waiting for their day, are running round perpetuating acts of ungodliness to save their former fourteen colleagues.
“The detained dismissed men claim that a brother to one of them in detention; ASP Raphael Ewah is a Serving High Court Judge; Justice Ashu Ewa as their source reveals is patiently waiting for the case to be brought to the High Court for Justice to be denied.
“I am worried not just for my son but for all the future leaders of tomorrow over the role played by O/C legal with the legal unit at the Zone 6 Headquarter who is a friend and course mate to O/C SARS and had assured him that he will not allow this case to see the lime light, that by his actions he is trying to portray the police in bad image and to show that the Zone 6 Police Headquarters does not know what they are doing or the Ministry of Justice in Cross River State either.
“They want to perverse justice; what is the fate of our society’s future leaders in the hands of this corrupt system where justice is like a camel passing through the needle?”
She called on all relevant government and security agencies, civil society organizations, human right groups and politicians to help and ensure that the killer cops are brought to book by being tried in a civil court.
She said with the revelations from the orderly room trial about the activities of the dismissed cops, the legal authorities should cause all cases handled by the detained killer policemen to be reinvestigated because it is clear that they have been in the dirty business for long.
According to her, “If the cases handled by them are reinvestigated, I strongly believe more innocent victims of theirs will be uncovered. It amazes me the type of police system we have that while in detention the detained/sacked policemen are still making hostile calls, sending threatening messages, even chatting on social media (facebook).”
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