A school teacher, Mrs Nzube Obiechina, who was an alleged victim of police brutality in Lagos, on Saturday told the Lagos Judicial Panel how she lost her two months’ pregnancy while being tortured by operatives of the disbanded Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS, of the Nigeria Police Force.
The proceedings kicked off with the tale of horror she and her husband, Okwuchukwu Obiechina, allegedly suffered in the hands of SARS operatives
Narrating her ordeal before the panel, she said: “I was two months pregnant, they were beating me, I was urinating on my cloth, they said they would kill me.
“They took me to the ‘shrine’, hung me there, beat me, slapped me, they said they were going to force the baby out of me and I would die there,” she told the panel on Saturday.”
Her ordeal started on November 1, 2017 when she said she received a text from DHL saying she had a parcel with them.
The woman said she was put in an open-cell where she was beaten by rain and scorched by sunshine for a week, with no food to eat or water to drink.
Her words: “I received a text message from the DHL that I had a parcel with them with an unknown number. I am a teacher and my husband is a businessman. Later on the day, the number called me whether I had seen the text. I said no, because I’m not expecting any parcel.”
She said the caller asked for her address and occupation; she did not disclose her address but told him her occupation.
She said her husband tried calling the number but it was switched off and her husband instructed her that when next the caller called, she should tell her the address of the school she works.
According to her: “The same person called with another number and asked for the address of the school and I told him. He said he is a DHL officer and that when he comes, he would explain better.
“He called two hours later that he had gotten to the school. On getting to the school gate, I saw a black jeep with huge men inside and one man was on a DHL apron coming outside.
“He was calling me to confirm I’m the one and giving a signal to others. Immediately they approached me, they started beating me and that I should enter the car. They said I am a thief, armed robber and a kidnapper. He removed the DHL apron and put in the booth.”
She said the headmistress of the school who was peeping through the window observed that something was wrong and called some teachers to join her at the gate.
“My HM (headmistress) was peeping at us. I said let me go and tell her. They said no.
“I said my kid is there, they said no, that I should follow them, that my kid would die there.
“My HM came to the gate; they pointed a gun at me. She asked what was going on. They said, ‘This woman is a thief, a kidnapper. She must follow us and go. They said they were Police, SARS.
“They pushed me inside the car and moved. The men were slapping, beating me. I was two months pregnant. I started vomiting. That’s when they found out I was pregnant. But they kept torturing me. I told them I did not know the suspect.”
Mr Obiechina, who went in search for his wife at the SARS office, was also reportedly accosted, beaten and brutalised by the officers, Mrs Obiechina told the panel.
The couple were detained in the custody of FSARS, Ikeja, for 22 days.
The victims who approached the judiciary after their release said a N2 million damage was awarded by the Federal High Court, Ikeja, but SARS authority have not obeyed the court ruling.
She was reportedly tortured, beaten and faced interrogation, she added.
The victim added that her phone was seized and her husband had no idea where she was “but kept going from one police station to another searching for her”.
Mrs Obiechina also gave the names of the three SARS personnel who reportedly tortured her.
She alleged that the policemen stole her husband’s N50,000 and compelled them to part with N400,000 as bail fee before they were freed.
“I begged them to give me my phone. Christian brought the phone and put it on loudspeaker. He (my husband) was asking where I was, it was Christian that gave him the direction of where to come and meet him. Area F, Ikeja.
“Immediately they saw him, they started beating him, used gun to hit his head, put tyre on his neck and said they will kill him there,” she said.
Mrs Obiechina said whenever she attempted to ask questions or talk to the officers, they kept beating and slapping her.
“They told me I should pray to God to set me free, if not, they would kill me like others. Around 7pm, they took us to Federal SARS, Ikeja. That was how I was arrested and my husband too joined.
“They said we were going to rot in there because we had not provided the suspect they were looking for,” she narrated.
The victim said they have no knowledge of the suspect the officers were looking for.
“For one week, I did not eat, I did not drink, a pregnant woman.”
Mrs Obiechina told the panel that she lost the pregnancy in the process and it was confirmed when she went to the hospital after her release.
She said the same SARS officers and others intruded into their house and re-arrested her husband.
She said her husband spent two weeks in custody this time and their lawyer wrote to them (police) to release him on orders from the Federal High Court.
“The case was rendered at the Federal High a court, Ikeja and we were awarded N2 million for the torture and brutality of the SARS. Since then, they’ve not paid the money,” she said.
She said the SARS appealed the judgment at the Lagos State court of appeal but this was dismissed on March 25.
Dorris Okuwobi, a retired judge heading the panel accepted the judgment of the High Court and Court of Appeal as Exbibit A and Exhibit B.
The case was adjourned till November 3, when the alleged SARS operatives are expected to appear before the panel.
