By Archibong Jeremiah
The family of late Derek Maurice Ben who was killed on the 17th April, 2014 by men of the Nigeria Police Force, attached to the Cross River Anti-Robbery squad, has called on the state governor, Senator Ben Ayade to intervene in the matter and expedite justice.
Speaking with CrossRiverWatch in Calabar, the mother of the deceased, Mrs. Eno Maurice Enang cried that Governor Ayade should help ensure that justice prevail as life has not been the same for her since the death of her last child, Derek fondly called DD who until his death was a student of Accounting Department in the University of Calabar, UNICAL.
Her words: “Life has not been the same since my child was falsely accused and killed without a chance of fair trial to prove his innocence and worst of it his body sold. The 434 days which I have stayed without the apple of my eyes, the lost of my jewel of inestimable value has been unbearable. This lost is irreparable. This vacuum can never be filled. Nothing appears pleasant to me anymore; unconsciously most of the time I call him forgetting he is gone, upon realization hot tears run through my chick.
“His little nephews and nieces cannot put amen in prayer unless you mention him. Anybody knocking at the gate to them is uncle DD. They will tell you he is their best friend and they keep begging God to touch the heart of whoever is keeping him to release him to come back home.
“There was this day one of them offered a shocking prayer, he said, ‘God you are my gun, your word is my bullet; please torch their mind to release my uncle. Within the family he was the cynosure, he attracted all eyes and attention. Some called him DD (Derek Dear) while I called him DD Bomboy. The wicked dismissed Police Sergeant Anthony Idoko and his friend Mr. Ekeyong Akom knew DD’s worth and were fully aware of the harm they would be causing the family by killing him and still went on.
“People call him my handbag because I moved about with him. DD can counsel and admonish like a wise elderly person which makes me love him the more for his young but enlightened heart. We usually go to the market together as he had better bargaining skills, the market women all cherished him and as he bargained with them, some called him their husband others their in-law. Parents of his friends usually report their children to him. A very generous and honest boy, dash him money now and within a short period tell him you have financial need, he will gladly return the whole money and then counsel. He introduced me to the fish farming business that I am doing now”.
“With the personality of Governor Ayade as we keep hearing, I plead with him to make us smile by giving us justice, to write his name in gold by putting himself in my shoes as if it were his child because today it’s me nobody knows tomorrow because even if a prophet had told me this would happen, I would have doubted it to the last.” She said.
The grieving mother further lauded the Imoke administration, a former AIG Zone 6, Calabar, the media and all those who had supported in any way in the pursuit of justice up to the point it is now.
It will be recalled that Derek was killed along with seven other persons on the same night. The killer cops have since been arrested after a police investigative panel indicted them and recommended their prosecution.
The suspects who resisted an initial attempt to arraign them in court on November 21, 2014 are still in detention pending when courts in the state will reopen from their industrial action.
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