They also demanded the remains of their husbands from the federal government and police authorities as evidence for their children in the future.
Wives of police officers killed during the 2020 #EndSARS protest in Oyo state on Monday asked the police authorities to release cheques of the entitlement of their husbands to them.
They also demanded the remains of their husbands from the federal government and police authorities as evidence for their children in the future.
They alleged that even though they have information that the federal government had released cheques for the entitlements of their husbands, they have yet to get anything from the insurance company handling it.
SaharaReporters reports that five police officers were killed while many sustained varying degrees of injury in Oyo state during the October 2020 #EndSARS nationwide protest.
The affected officers are Adegoke Ajibola, Rotimi Oladele, Peter Abegunde, James Akanmu, and Alidu Yusuf Wada.
Speaking with SaharaReporters on Monday, Mrs. Beauty Akanmu, one of the victims who spoke on behalf of other victims, said the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mrs. Ngozi Onadeko told them that the former police commissioner in the state, Joe Enwonwu did not leave their husbands' files with the police while leaving office.
The widows said all efforts to get the former police commissioner were not successful as he refused to answer their calls.
According to her, the widows have withdrawn some of their children from schools since they could not afford to pay their fees again.
"I'm addressing you with heavy heart and sadness. For the past few days, I have not been able to eat, let alone sleep. Since I lost my joy last October, life has been miserable for me and the other victims. As you are seeing us all, none of us is happy. Our children asked us for the remains of their fathers almost every day but we kept promising them. We need the corpses of our husbands. Police should release them for us. We cannot feed our children. We have withdrawn them from school.
"We heard they have sent cheques for entitlements of our husbands but the insurance company handling it has yet to release them for us. We approached the police commissioner but she said she didn't have our files with her because her predecessor didn't leave them. We called her predecessor but he didn't answer our calls.
"We want police authorities to release them to us, even if it is their carcasses, we shall accept them and bury them. It will serve as evidence for our children when they grow old. We are troubled and Nigeria must not add to our woes. We want the federal government, state government, well-to-do persons in Nigeria and human rights activists to intervene in our matter," she said.