Police killed my two sons within five years, 86-year-old widow tells Imo #EndSARS panel

An 86-year-old widow, Madam Comfort Mmezi, has told the Imo State Judicial Panel on Police Brutality how her two sons were killed by trigger-happy policemen within five years.

Madam Mmezi, a native of Amucha Community in Njaba local government area of the state, while narrating her ordeal to the panel on Monday, December 21, said her 41-year-old son, Jude Oguzie Mmezi, a real estate manager, was shot dead by the police along the Owerri-Orlu Road.

While demanding justice from the panel, Madam Mmezie said Oguzie, a father of four, died after he was shot by a policeman on Saturday, December 5, while he was going to Owerri for a wedding.

The bereaved mother added that Oguzie was the second son killed by policemen in five years.

According to her, her first son and elder brother to Oguzie, Ifeobu Jonathan Mmezi, was also shot and killed by the police in Lagos State five years before.

She added that Oguzie who lived in Owerri, the state capital with his family, was the bread winner of the family after the death of her first son and came home frequently to see to her health.

She explained that Oguzie who returned to the country from his base in Italy because of her condition, was accosted in his Toyota Camry car by two police officers while coming from his village to Owerri on the day he was killed.

She said that while two policemen at a check point had given Oguzie the pass after exchanging pleasantries, another vehicle drove past from behind the queue created by the policemen’s check point, thus leading to one of the officers shouting to him to stop.

While the driver refused to stop, another officer, who was said to be busy in a nearby bush, emerged and shot at Oguzie’s car, thinking he was the one who had been ordered to stop.

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When the policemen realized that their colleague had shot at Oguzie, they quickly fled the scene, leaving Oguzie in a pool of his blood, she said.

According to the Octogenarian, it was a good Samaritan that checked on Oguzie’s vehicle and noticed that he was still alive and took him to the Federal Medical Center, Owerri, where he was said to have died about two hours later without any medical attention.

“My son returned home because of me. He took me to a hospital where I had a hernia surgery. He just came home to take me to the hospital for the removal of the final surgery thread just two days before he was killed. That was what brought Oguzie home. He came home to take me to the hospital and decided to sleep over for two days at home so that he would observe my progress.

“So, on that Saturday morning, he called his wife and spoke with all his children, promising to buy them ice cream on his return to Owerri later that day.

“I told him that my kerosene had finished and gave him a five litre jerrycan to buy me kerosene when he would be returning from Owerri. Till this moment, I have not seen my son and they’re telling me that he was shot and killed by a police officer for no reason. This was how the same police killed my first son, Ifeobu, in Lagos, five years ago. It was my son, Oguzie, that consoled me at that rime. What did I do to police?

“He had never been a trouble maker all his life. Oguzie was the only eye with which I was seeing the road. They killed my only child. They have rendered me blind and useless. That I ate every day was because of him. He was in Italy for some years and built a house for me at that time. Death should have killed me instead of my only surviving son. Who will take care of his young wife and four children?

“I only need justice from the police hierarchy. They must ensure the four little children left behind by him are looked after and trained well. The IGP and the Commissioner of Police must wade in. We want them to cater for the little ones because I am nearing my grave,” she lamented.

At the hearing, the Imo State Police Command confirmed the killing, saying that the officers involved have been arrested.

According to a statement issued on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, Isaac Akinmoyede, by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Orlando Ikeokwu, the CP wondered why the officers refused to adhere to rules guiding the use of firearms.

The CP, while sympathizing with the family of the deceased, urged them to remain calm, as the Command would do everything possible to ensure that justice is done.

“The Command regrets the killing of the deceased under any guise, especially now that the force is doing everything within its powers to put an end to incidents of brutality and incivility to members of the public,” the statement said.

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