Death at the Hands of a Policeman: Chinedu Peters' Girlfriend Witnessed How Police Killed Him as Family Seeks Justice

A man who was said to be a resident of Aba, Abia State, Mr. Chinedu Peters, has allegedly been killed in an extra-judicial manner by a policeman.

According to a Facebook post by Pedro Unekwe‎ of The Due Process Advocates, on March 11, 2017, Peters had been on an outing with an unnamed girlfriend when a group of policemen on duty in front of Christ the King Cathedral, Asa road, Aba, stopped the vehicle he was travelling in and ordered everyone to come down.


Unekwe, who claimed to reside in Dubai and quoting Peters’ girlfriend who reportedly witnessed the incident, said the passengers obeyed and came down, after which the policemen allegedly ordered them to lie down on the ground.

“They also complied,” Unekwe said.

Unekwe said that one Hausa man happened to be among the passengers and he was released. This reportedly angered Peters, who got up and demanded to know why the Hausa man was released rather than everyone, since the policemen didn’t find anything incriminating on any of them.

Unekwe wrote, “One policeman among them by name Ibe Uchenna, ordered him (Peters) to lie down or he would shoot him. “He (Peters) refused, (insisting) that he will only obey when the Hausa man is brought back. That was how he was shot by someone that was supposed to protect him.”

After the shooting, Unekwe continued, Peter lay down helpless, crying for them to take him to hospital. “Instead, they took him in their van and dumped him in a location they thought people would not find out, took their car for a wash to cover their crime, without knowing that the girlfriend was with him,” Unekwe added.

Peter’s girlfriend allegedly returned home and explained what happened; and the following morning, friends and relations lodged a complaint with the police.

However, Unekwe said, police feigned ignorance of the incident. When Peters’ girlfriend insisted that the incident truly happened, the police commander allegedly called the troop that was deployed in the area on the day of the incident and Peters’ girlfriend was able to recognise their faces and “the guy that shot him.”

Unekwe added, “The police later changed the story, and said that Chinedu (Peters) was taken to a hospital and that he was responding to treatment, but they refused to tell the family which hospital.”

The victim’s family and friends then embarked on a search, during which his dead body was found on the morning of March 18th. When they reported back to the police, they were allegedly informed that the policeman who shot him dead, Ibe Uchenna, was being detained in Umuahia.

Speaking on behalf of a nongovernmental organisation, The Due Process Advocates, Unekwe urged the government to see that the circumstances surrounding Peters’ extrajudicial murder are probed and the alleged killer punished in accordance with the law.

The phone number of Peters’ brother from Unekwe was obtained and when contacted, the alleged Peters’ brother said a correspondent should call again in about 30 minutes because they were holding a crucial meeting. He also promised to give the phone contact of the eye witness who was also Peters’ girlfriend.


Source: Punch