Woman tells Uyo #EndSARS panel how policeman killed her son over N100

A bereaved widow, Mfon Udoidiong, has told the the Akwa Ibom State #EndSARS Judicial Panels of Inquiry investigating incidents of police brutality, how a policeman allegedly killed her son, Imo Udoidiong, over N100.

While testifying at the resumed sitting of the panel in Uyo, the state capital, on Thursday, January 7, Udoidiong, from Nkek community in the Ukanafun local government area, said the police officer, Idongesit Ekanem, killed Imo on September 9, 2017, on his way to a football match at the Ukanafun stadium.

The petty trader narrated that her son who was a student of the Uyo City Polytechnic, was riding on a motorcycle with a friend to watch the football match when they were accosted by a police team who demanded the sum of N100 from them and when they refused to give the money, an argument ensued, and Ekanem who has since been dismissed from the force, shot the deceased and he died on the spot.

According to the widow, the family of the policeman only supported her with N200,000 to buy a coffin to bury her son and since then, had abandoned her to her fate after they had promised to pay her a compensation of N1 million.

“The family of the policeman promised to give me N1m to move on with my life. But till today, nobody has given me anything,” Udoidiong told the panel.

Read also: #EndSARS: Police arrest 10 hoodlums, recover water dispensers, deep freezers, others in Akwa Ibom

Also testifying, a friend of the deceased, Ubong Monday, told the panel he and the victim were on their way to watch a football match when they were accosted by the police team.

“On our way, close to the Ukanafun Stadium, some policemen stopped us while we were on my motorcycle and demanded N100 before they would allow us to pass.

“We told them that we did not have money to give them. Imo got down from the motorcycle to meet the leader of the patrol in their vehicle for explanation.

“The senior officer told them to allow us to pass. When Imo tried to mount the motorcycle, Ekanem came with his friends and attacked him with sticks for reporting them to their superior.

“Not satisfied, Ekanem went and brought a gun, corked it and shot Imo, who died instantly. When queried on why he shot the victim at the police station in Ukanafun, Ekanem said it was an accidental discharge,” Monday said.

Counsel for the petitioner, Augustine Udoh, prayed the panel to invite the dismissed killer cop and make him pay the compensation he had promised the widow.

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