Murder; Community sparks as police refused to release their kinsman's copse after allegedly murdered by police

Nnabuike Nnaji

MEMBERS of the Nnaji family of Umuanekeode community in Ibagwa-Nike area of Enugu State on Friday ‘buried’ their kinsman, late Nnabuike Nnaji, without committing his body to earth after the police refused to release the corpse to them.

Nnabuike, a graduate of the Institute of Management Technology, Enugu, was allegedly killed by policemen at a wedding in Enugu on February 15, 2014.

The community had dragged the Enugu State Police Command to court, seeking justice for their late kinsman.

But the police are claiming that the identity of Nnabuike’s killers has yet to be determined.

The police said Nnabuike was killed by soldiers, and not policemen, at the said wedding.

The corpse has been in the custody of the police, but the family members buried the deceased on Friday.

Notice of the burial, coming more than one year after Nnabuike’s killing, was widely circulated. On the scheduled date, the grave was dug, food and drinks were provided, and gospel musicians were in place to minister to the large number of mourners who gathered to witness the burial.

After a long wait for the body to arrive for the burial, the family members and the mourners ate the food provided for the ceremony.

The representative of the family, Mr. Patrick Nnaji, said the police had initially granted them the permission to bury the deceased. He said the family was made to sign an undertaking that the burial would be peaceful.

However, according to him, on the day of the burial, the police sealed the mortuary, where the corpse was deposited.

He added that when they eventually got in touch with the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State, Adamu Mohammed, the family was asked to sign an affidavit for the withdrawal of the pending court case filed against the police over Nnabuike’s killing.

The elder Nnaji explained that the police refused to release the corpse after the family insisted on going ahead with the case.

Having been denied access to the body of their late kinsman, the family returned home to conclude the burial without burying the corpse.

However, the spokesman of the Enugu State Police Command, Ebere Amaraizu, said the family failed to do the needful before rushing to bury the corpse.

Amaraizu said a panel set up by the state government to determine whether it was the police or the army that shot Nnabuike had yet to conclude investigations into the incident, while the matter was still pending in court.

He said the police declined to release the corpse to the family because of the pending investigation and court case.

Another member of the community, a former leader of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon. Uchenna Ekete, in a petition to the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, said the Enugu State Police Command was covering up the guilt of its men in Nnabuike’s murder.

Ekete said, “On 15th February, 2014, a member of our family, one Nnabuike Nnaji, vice chairman of Umuanekeode Progressive Youth, was gunned down by men of the state anti-robbery squad during a traditional wedding ceremony.

“We made very spirited efforts to get the police do their work of prosecuting the accused persons. We wrote a protest letter to the Inspector General of Police who directed the zonal command at Zone 9, Umuahia to take up the matter and investigate.”

Ekete further explained that the family paid several visits to Umuahia and letters of invitation were issued out to those involved, including the traditional head of our community.

Ekete also recalled that an Ak-47 bullet, which was extracted from the body of the deceased had not been submitted for forensic examination since the incident occurred.

Punch