They Snatched My Joy Because Of N500… Wife Narrates How Husband Was Murdered

The wife of a 36-year old
vigilante man in Delta State has accused policemen of aiding the death of her
husband and father of four for allowing his colleagues beat him to coma in
their presence. Not satisfied with the beating, the police in charge allegedly whisked
him away in that state to the police station where he passed away the next day.
His wife has petitioned the Governor of the State, IG and Police Commissioner saying
life has been unbearable for her since the incident happened and also wants
justice. Here’s how Punch newspaper reports it.

he wife of a vigilante has accused
policemen attached to the Sapele Police Division, Delta State, of aiding the
thugs who killed her 36-year-old husband.

The widow, Mrs. Esther Ifi, said
the six-man gang had tortured her late husband, Mr. Jimoh Ifi, to a coma in the
presence of the policemen around 8pm on July 16, 2014.

Punch Metro learnt that the gang
had attacked the deceased for failing to remit a sum of N500 to the head of the
vigilante group, Mr. Felix Ipemu. The sum, it was learnt, was given to the
victim by a man who visited their joint in the Igbeku Community when the
chairman was not around.

Our correspondent gathered that
the leader of the group, who also doubled as the youth leader in the community,
reportedly ordered his boys to unleash terror on Jimoh for being disloyal to
the group.

Esther told Punch Metro that after
falling into a coma, her husband was taken to the police station by the
policemen.

The father of four was said to
have died in police custody the following night.

Esther said the suspected
assailants were being sponsored by a politician in the state. It was also
alleged that the alleged sponsor had made entreaties to the deceased’s family
to ‘settle’ the matter.

Narrating her ordeal, the widow
said life had been difficult for the family since her husband was murdered.

She said, “It has been difficult
for me to fend for the children since the gang killed my husband. They attacked
him three times that very day. He was relaxing at home around 8pm when they
attacked him again. Even though the police saw the gang beating him, they did
not do anything.

“Instead, they bundled him inside
their van and took him to the station. His brother and I begged them to release
him, but they refused. It was the following day that we learnt he was dead.
Just because of N500, they snatched my joy from me.”

Punch Metro further gathered that
a separate team of policemen eventually swooped on the suspected assailants,
leading to the arrests of the ringleader and one of his boys identified as
Lugard Tebu.

It was learnt that four suspects
were still at large.

In a petition filed to the
Inspector General of Police, the Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, and
the state’s commissioner of police, the solicitor for the family, Mr. Omajali
Emmanuel, demanded the arrest of the fleeing suspects, adding that the
policemen that arrested the deceased were also culpable.