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aoabada@yahoo.com Cape Town, South Africa

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CITIZEN EDIGIN AND EXTRA JUDICIAL KILLINGS IN NIGERIA:
10 YEARS AFTER

he recent Abuja cold execution of 6 law abiding and hardworking Nigerians by some officers and men of the Nigerian Police Force hasn't come as a shock. What Nigerians may not know is that the leadership of the Force continues to engage in cover ups of these killings by their men. This brings me to an event that I witnessed more than a decade ago in Benin City, whilst still a university student.

On the 20th of August 1994, I was arrested by a team of detectives from the Federal Intelligence and Investigation Bureau (FIIB). This team was led by Deputy Inspector General of Police, Bappa Jamare. The violent crackdown on pro-democracy agitation promised by the late maximum ruler had begun. DIG Jamare's incursion into the University of Benin with his killer squad was in response to peaceful protest led by much disciplined university students challenging the usurpation of constitutional powers by Abacha. This peaceful demonstration was later hijacked by paid agents, who visited mayhem on innocent people, which led to loss of lives and property. After hours of fire fight, Aikhomu's country home in Irrua was gutted; Anenih's Nova hotel in Benin, as well as the famous Palm Royal Hotel opposite the university went up in flames.

This was the pretext that Abacha needed to send his armed men into UniBen, and the sleepy town of Ekpoma which hosts the first state university in Nigeria, the Ambrose Alli University. At Ekpoma, countless Nigerian students were killed in cold blood, while those who escaped with injuries lived again to tell their stories. At Uniben, lots of female students were violently raped by armed mobile policemen who went for the kill. It was to be a black day in my life. A day that continue to hunt me, as I saw mobile policemen mowing down our girls in Hall 1, and subjecting them to rape and violation of their womanhoods.

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Today 5 of those women sit currently in Europe trying hard to rebuild their lives. For citizen Edigin, the story that I am about to tell is different, but does resonate in the minds of those who are constantly aware of the brutality of the police paid to protect us from men and women of the underworld. I am hoping that at the end of this piece, the family will eventually understand how their son met his untimely fate. It is a secret that I have kept since 1994, which continue to hunt me till date. I have sought therapy in Europe, and South Africa in order to bring in a closure to no avail.

I have been reliably informed that writing about it could somehow draw the nightmare to firm closure. After my arrest; I was detained at the notorious State Investigation and Intelligence Bureau (SIIB), in Benin. The detention centre was meant for 30 inmates but housed more than 200 leading to serious overcrowding. Diseases were rife. Tuberculosis was rife, and it spread like wild fire. This close knit atmosphere allowed me to bond with some of the detainees giving me the ample opportunity of getting to meet some of the most dangerous operators in the underworld.

I took a special liking to one citizen Edigin who was his early 40s. He was much known as a drug addict who did petty stealing and pick-pocketing. We were able to strike this bond that made it possible for me to share my meals with him each time my family brought me food from the outside world. When I sought to know from the police why citizen Edigin was locked up for pick-pocketing and not charged to court, I was informed that bail had been given for N5000.00. And of course it wasn't the first time he was being locked up for minor offenses. One evening of the 27th of August, 1994, citizen Edigin came over to me to say that the police officer in charge of his case had given him an ultimatum to pay the money or be executed. He was worried. I allayed his fears that the police cannot execute him when no Judge had pronounced such a sentence. I was mistaken!

At about 4am of 30th of August, 1994, Inspector Eboigbe arrived at the detention centre and called out his name. He came running to me to alert me that he was about to be executed by this corrupt officer whom I was later told killed so many innocent people just like the late George Iyamu did in 1986 with the infamous underworld kingpin Lawrence Anini. I observed from my cell the encounter that took place outside. I heard the policeman say in Edo that he was pissed off with the aimless and non-committal attitude of citizen Edigin. And it therefore it was time to put an end to it. He was led out in handcuffs.

I spent a further 2 weeks at the detention centre before I was judicially remanded to the Oko prisons. The illegal execution of Edigin for N5000.00 by Inspector Eboigbe was a callous betrayal of the role of the police. I am burdened that men like him may still be wearing uniforms supported by Nigerian tax payers. This route I have taken is therapeutic for me. It has cost me thousand of dollars in medical bills as I try to deal with the fallout of that early morning rascality and illegality. Edigin is a known family in Benin. I truly believe that with this information, they must ask the state to produce their son. I also call on Honorable Emmanuel Osula of the House of Representative for Oredo Local Government to take up this matter. Adequate compensation must be paid to that family, and those behind his barbaric murder be made to face the might of the law. It is a burden too heavy to bear.

Onoriode Abada is an Economist based in Cape Town