Nwanguma called for the urgent intervention of the state police commissioner on the matter to ensure justice is done.
A civic group, the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has said that police personnel in Delta State Command demanded N515,000 before they could prosecute an alleged murder case.
This was disclosed in a press statement on Friday signed by Okechukwu Nwanguma, the group's Executive Director.
Nwanguma called for the urgent intervention of the state police commissioner on the matter to ensure justice is done.
According to the statement, a man named Mr Andrew Vision Agalanga was stabbed by his companion, Mr Dereck Ikwute (a.k.a. Okowa), in Asaba, Delta State, sometime between March 7 and March 8, 2023.
This made the family of the deceased report the case to the police for due investigation and proper prosecution.
However, RULAAC learned that rather than prosecuting the case as a crime against the state, the police officers demanded a fee of around N515,000 to visit the crime scene, conduct an autopsy on the deceased, and pay legal fees for the police prosecutor.
The statement reads: “Mr. Bartholomew Aganga, a brother to the deceased, informed us as follows: That his late brother Mr. Andrew Agalanga was stabbed and left lying in the pool of his own blood, before he was taken to the nearest police station and later to a hospital where he did not receive adequate medical attention before he gave up the ghost.
“That a family member, Barrister Abba Agor Agalanga, a lawyer, visited the Delta State Police Command Headquarters and informed the family of the outcome as follows:
“That Barrister Abba Agor Agalanga visited the Delta State Police Headquarters, Asaba in the morning of Thursday 16/03/023 to see some of the senior officers. He repeated the visit on Friday, 17/03/023 at about 9:15 am and met with the officers directly involved in the investigation of the murder of Andrew Agalanga.
“That Barrister Abba Agor Agalanga met with one Inspector Oyom who directed him to one of the investigation team members, Officer Ibe of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Asaba.
“That Barr. Agalanga was still discussing with Officer Ibe when members of the family of the murder suspect, Mr. Dereck Ikwute (aka Okowa), including three of his uncles, his aunt and his mother, came in. Shortly after they were introduced to him by Officer Ibe, one of the Uncles, Mr. Mike Usiza, expressed his condolences.
“That Officer Ibe confirmed that his team had not visited the crime scene because neither the complainant, Mr. Anko Onojah, nor members of the Agalanga family had come to ‘facilitate’ the visit.
“That Barrister Abba Agor Agalanga told Officer Ibe that he was already right there before him, but Ibe asked to also see Mr. Onojah and the lawyer immediately called Mr Onojah to come and join them in the meeting. They waited for the Head of the investigation team, Supol Ebri and on his arrival they all went to meet him along with Mr. Onojah.
“That Officer Ibe asked the Agalanga family to either provide the sum of thirty-five thousand Naira (N35,000) or hire a taxi and pay an additional N20,000 for them to visit the crime scene. He opted for the latter and Mr. Onojah offered to bring a taxi driver he knew, but the officers instead preferred for them to pay the sum of N35,000. He promised to get back to them on Monday 20/03/023.
“That on getting back to Officer Ibe’s office together with Mr. Onojah, Mr. Dereck Ikwute’s mother held Barrister Abba Agor Agalanga, wailing and pleading that Barrister Agalanga should let her son be released from detention. Barrister Agalanga reported that he felt shocked at this show of insensitivity and simply left without uttering a word to the suspect’s mother.
“That it is clear to them that the suspect’s family is not considering their brother murdered by their son as another person’s son. They just want him out free.
“That Officer Ibe gave him the following breakdown of things the family should provide to enable the investigation team carry out the investigation.”
Listed in the breakdown are the following: visit to the scene of crime N35,000; autopsy- between N350,000 and N400,000; compilation of investigation report and duplication of case file - between N25,000 to N30,000; filing of application to prefer a charge against Mr. Dereck Ikwute: N25,000 and appearance fees for the police prosecutor on each date of the case in court- N25,000.
Everything summed up to an average of N515,000.
The group said, “That Barrister Abba Agor Agalanga felt that at this point the officers seemed to be more interested in exploiting their family’s misfortune for personal gains than doing their job professionally.
“That their family is willing to support the police investigators to do their job but the family should not be made to bear the cost of police investigation. The crime of murder is a capital offence against the state. The family cannot suffer the loss of their family member and still be subjected to exploitation.
“That because autopsy has not been performed, the family cannot yet request that the body be released to them for burial, they are appealing for the CP to cause the autopsy to be conducted as soon as possible.
“That this is a difficult time for all of the family and they need the investigation to be carried out discretely and concluded without further delay to enable them bury their son.”
Based on the points noted, RULAAC, therefore, requested that the state police commissioner should intervene and guarantee that the investigation into the matter is “carried out with diligence and that a fair resolution of the case is obtained in the interest of justice”.