The father of Goodluck Oviekeme, a 27- year-old, 300 level Niger Delta University (NDU), student, who reportedly died in police custody in Bayelsa State, has said his son was healthy, strong and wasn’t ill at anytime but was arrested and tortured to death by officers of the state police command.
Mr. Ovieteme, who was full of tears called on the Federal and State government, to intervene and ensure the killers of his son are brought to book, or rather kill him and bring his son back to life.
It was reported earlier that the state Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng E. Echeng, ordered for discreet Investigation and autopsy to determine the cause of the death of Goodluck Oviekeme ‘m’ 27 years
, who was arrested from his Yenagoa home on Tuesday.
“When we knew he was with Puff Adder, we went to them and we were told he was taken to the clinic for medical attention, we wondered why our son would be taken to the hospital without our knowledge. So we went on our own to the clinic, behold we were told nobody of such was admitted. We left FMC and went to the police clinic but he wasn’t there too, we got a hint to go check again at FMC, so we were going and we saw people looking at d corpse on the floor close to the mortuary area so we also approached to see. When we got there, it was our son lying lifeless on the floor with bruises around his chest area.”
“Government should help in this matter. We need the Federal government to intervene what has my son done to suffer like this?” he asks.
The state capital was erupted with protest, the protesters who were made up of Epie-attisa indigenes resident in Biogbolo, staged a protest against the sudden death of Goodluck Ovikeme, accusing Police of alleging shoddy investigation and deliberate killing of their kinsman.
“The next thing we heard was that one was dead, and we don’t even know the state of the other ones in custody. They didn’t investigate their claims before making the arrest, they should bring our sons back including the deceased.
An indigene of the community, Mr. Patrick Osain, said the incident of police brutality and arms theft didn’t happen here, it happened on the express so why will they arrest people from their community.
Osain said, “We still have about six persons in police custody and we don’t even know their fate, will they be killed the same way they killed Goodluck? He was tortured badly and left to die in pain. We want police to release others, they should trace and arrest those who committed the offence and not indigenes of Biogbolo community, because he wasn’t sick when they arrested him”.
Ebitonye Micheal, the brother to the deceased denied the police allegations, insisting that his brother is innocent of the crime he did not commit. He alleged that Ebitonye Michael, relative of the deceased, stated that men of the Police special squad arrested Oviekeme on Wednesday over a crime he did not commit.
He alleged that Oviekeme was murdered in the police cell and his body was later dumped at the Federal Medical Center (FMC), Yenagoa.
It was gathered that the women and youths took to the streets in protest of what they described as injustice on innocent youths of their community.
The angry protesters with placards blocked majors roads leading through their community, causing heavy gridlocks for vehicular movement.
Commuters and other road users were seen trekking a long distance to other boundary communities before they can continue their journeys.
Those who were travelling were rendered frustrated as no vehicle could pass through the community for several hours and they had to return back.
