SARS Took N400, 000 From Me To Feed My Only Son They Killed Earlier, Petitioner Tells Panel

Blood chilling stories of how men of disbanded Special Anti- Robbery Squad (SARS) continued to reverberate the sitting venue of Anambra State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on police Brutality and other Related matters where a petitioner,Sir Emma Adimachukwu Chimezie spoke of how the dreaded anti-robbery squad collected N400, 000.00 from him in pretence of feeding his only son who they had killed the previous day.

Adimachukwu’s petition and that of Mr. Obiora Akabike whose younger brother, master Ekene Augustine Akabike who was also “wasted” by the anti -robbery squad were heard yesterday.

Adimachukwu said his only son Obinna who graduated in Business Administration from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, was a businessman in Onitsha in 2014 before he met his death in the hands of SARS operatives.

According to him, Obinna had gone to Nnewi with a friend to recover a debt of $10,000.00 which his former apprentice borrowed from him and was waiting for his goods to arrive at Ezenwata Park Onitsha when SARS men arrived and started shooting indiscriminately.

Since they committed no offence, they did not run and were arrested.

However the story changed when on their way, they searched the two men but Obinna refused to surrender the money to them.

His father narrated: “in the course of taking him to SARS, Awkuzu, a fight ensued when they were searched and found the money with him. He refused to give them the money.

“When they got to Awkuzu they told him that since he can fight, they will send him to where he can fight. So they took him into cell 5 where they detain condemned criminals”.

Adimachukwu said that when he got the information that his son was detained at Awkuzu SARS, he rushed to the station and was told by a friendly police man that his son’s name was among the detainees but that he could not be allowed in. He was asked to come back the next day.

However, Sir Adimachukwu continued, when he returned the next day, the story changed, prompting him to hire a lawyer. They told him that his son was not detained at the station.

When they continued with the game, the lawyer became suspicious and advised him to contacted all highly placed people him could.

According to him, he went to the station the next day and gatecrashed since they refused him entry thereby earning himself detention by the second in command to the commander of SARS.
The second in command he narrated brought out and read a statement purportedly written by his son and when he demanded to verify it, it was not only refused him but was detained for a second time by the second in command who was enraged that he had the temerity to ask to see the statement and verify if it was his son’s writing and signature.

When he finally regained freedom, Adimachukwu continued, the second in command demanded for money to feed his son. “Meanwhile, I didn’t know that they had killed him the previous day. The second in command demanded that he needed the money to feed my son. I gave him N400, 000.00 because he had demanded N500, 000.00 and asked me to come back the next week “.
It was when he demanded to see his son because he had the keys to their country home that James Nwafor, the commander of SARS now confronted him. He said: “Nwafor jumped up and said: Is it because I allowed you in that you are making all these requests? Look, let me tell you if you don’t know, your son is dead!”

At this he collapsed on the chair. As he fell down, he narrated, Nwafor ordered for his detention but he asked Nwafor to release the corpse of his son, to which Nwafor responded: “do you want to go to way your son went? ” He was thrown out of the SARS station.

He concluded :”after one year I called Nwafor and said, can I bury my son? He said not yet. On the second year, he called a friend of mine and said I can now bury my son, that he had investigated and found that my son was not an armed robber”.

Adimachukwu said he was satisfied that he could eventu