Rivers family alleges son’s death in police custody

…He died in shootout, says Police

The family of Uelee Sunday has raised the alarm over the alleged death of their son in the custody of the Octopus Strike Force unit of the Rivers State Police Command in Mile 2, Port Harcourt, over two months after he was arrested.

Uelee’s elder brother, Lebura Sunday, told PUNCH Metro that the former was arrested around Odani area of Elelewon in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State on October 7, 2022.

Lebura disclosed that the policemen at Octopus Strike Force had informed them that their brother was arrested following a petition written against him by a prominent person in Ogoni, where they hail from, which alleged that the suspect was a notorious person.

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He further said the operatives have continually denied them access to their detained brother, adding that the suspect has also been denied access to a lawyer.

He further said the family had asked the police to charge Uelee to court if he had committed any crime, but that they paid a deaf ear.

Lebura however, said the family got reliable information that his brother had died, but said they had yet to authenticate the claim since the police had prevented them from seeing him, even as he appealed to the state Commissioner of Police, Okon Effiong, to intervene.

“The information available to us is that he died in detention, maybe through torture, we don’t know. Some of those who were in the same cell with him, before they were sent to the correctional centre told us in court.

“The police did not allow us to see him. My sister went to give him food, they collected the food from her and later called her to come and take the food she brought.

“What crime did he commit? It is over two months now. Even when we brought a lawyer, they refused us to see him. So, we are calling on the state Commissioner of Police to ask him to produce him in court for prosecution, if they claim he is still alive,” Lebura said.

When contacted, the spokesperson of the state Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, said the suspect (Uelee) was never detained in a police cell as alleged by the family, saying he was involved in kidnapping with his gang and had confessed to the crime after he was arrested.

Iringe-Koko, a superintendent of police further said after his arrest, he led the operatives to the location the victim was, but that on citing the police, his gang members opened fire, where he sustained bullet wounds and later died in the hospital.

The state police image maker said, “He (Uelee) was never detained in the cell. They (police) arrested him and he confessed to the crime about somebody that was kidnapped. He now took them to Greater Port Harcourt City by Igwruta, where they kept the hostage. His gang members where there. Immediately they cited the police they started shooting.

“In the exchange of gunfire, he sustained bullet injuries and they took him to the hospital where he died. They (police) also recovered AK-47 rifle from him. So he was never detained in the police cell like his brother claimed.”