On Sunday 21st July 2013, Ify Gabriel Nwainokpor and his friend Kasim
were attacked and beaten to death by a mob at the Ajara area of
Badagry on the ground that their faces looked strange in the
neighborhood, this is according to the people who posted the video of
their lynching on Youtube.They claim that the Nigerian Police (Badagry
division) watched as these men were hacked to death before their
prime. They are crying out to the world for justice and brought the
barbaric incident to the attention of the media. Another lynching? This
is unbelievable.
Punchng.com reports:
Policemen attached to the Badagry Police Division, Lagos State,
and some hoodlums have been accused of killing a 25-year-old
undergraduate of Delta State University, Ifechukwude
Nwainokpor, and his friend, identified simply as Kazeem.
An eight-minute video clip of the gruesome killing, which was
made available to PUNCH Metro, showed the two victims
handcuffed together. They were covered in their own blood and
beaten to death with sticks. Tyres were also put round their
necks.
An irate mob could be seen in the video, shouting, “die, die, burn
them, burn them.”
At some points in the video, a policeman was seen interviewing
the boys. He asked who sent them (victims) to rob the area, an
accusation they denied. One of the hoodlums, holding a sharp
object attempted to cut off the private part of one of the
victims.
Nwainokpor could be seen pleading with the hoodlums and
policemen to spare his life, saying he could identify himself if given
a chance. His plea, however, fell on deaf ears.
Our correspondent, who visited the family of Nwainokpor on
Tuesday, learnt that the lynching took place around 3pm on July
21, 2013 in Ajara area of Badagry, a community not far from
Nwainokpor’s family home.
His father, Samuel, told PUNCH Metro that his son was arrested
while passing through a street in the area but a misunderstanding
later ensued and the hoodlums pounced on him and Kazeem.
He added that Nwainokpor, who was nicknamed Ify, was a final
year student of Geology and Mining.
He said, “On that particular day, I was in Ghana when I received a
telephone call that I should come immediately. My wife was in
Delta State taking care of her mother.
“When I arrived two days later, my relatives and the caretaker of
my house told me that my son was killed in the Ajara area along
with his friend. I was devastated.
“I got my son a temporary job with a Customs licensed agent
since their lecturers were on strike. He worked everyday except
on Sundays when he visited his friends. On that day, he went to
see Kazeem and they were strolling around Ajara.”
Samuel said because there had been a robbery in Ajara four days
earlier, some of the residents were on the lookout for strange
faces.
He added that when the youth saw two unknown young men,
they accosted them and an argument ensued.
He said the youth called the head of the vigilante group in the area,
one Asiribo.
He said, “Asiribo came to the scene with a locally-made pistol and
handcuffs. He handcuffed my son and his friend before asking
them questions.
“Later, it was decided that the boys be taken to the Baale, Agano
Oniyon of Agamade Ajara. But as they were going, Asiribo, while
trying to return his gun into its pouch, mistakenly shot himself in
the stomach and died.”
Samuel said Asiribo’s death infuriated the youth, who blamed the
boys for his death.
“The mob picked up sticks and beat them to death. Policemen
were there,” he said.
Holding back tears, the retired immigration officer added that the
police treated the matter as a robbery case. Beating his chest,
Samuel said there was no way his son would have been involved in
armed robbery.
He said, “I have been living in Badagry since 1982. I have only two
children and Ifechukwude is the first. Ironically, he was born in that
same area where he was killed.
“I have lived in this area without any trouble and the residents can
tell you that my sons are good boys.”
Nwainokpor’s boss, Aloysius Onyenibedi, described him as an
honest and hardworking person.
“I trusted him to the extent that I used to keep a lot of money
with him. He was good to my children and was honest,” he said.
The Nwainokpor family berated the Divisional Police Officer,
Badagry Police Station, Dankoli Mohammed, for the manner he
treated the case.
Samuel said when he approached the DPO, he was told that his
son was killed at midnight for armed robbery.
He said, “When the policemen came to take the corpses, guns
were planted on them. Policemen at the station told the DPO that
they were robbers. Their corpses were taken along with that
Asiribo to Badagry General Hospital’s mortuary.
“The following morning, the DPO released Asiribo’s corpse for
burial without investigation. My relatives went to the station and
after showing the DPO the video, the matter was transferred to
the Area K Command.
“At Present, Asiribo’s son has fled, while the DPO has been unable
to identify the policemen who were present at the scene when
my son and his friend were killed.”
PUNCH Metro however learnt that through the video, some
people had arrested one of the perpetrators. The suspect had
been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department,
Panti, Yaba.
The spokesperson for the state police command, Ngozi Braide,
said, “The incident is quite pathetic. Even if they were armed
robbers, no one has the right to take the life of another. Why
then do we have the police and the judiciary? The Nigerian police
as well as the law condemn mob action and jungle justice. The
commissioner of police has set up a high- powered investigation
body to investigate the matter.”
naijauncut.com/2013/08/01/the-graphic-video-of-the-brutal-killing-of-delsu-student-ify-gabriel-nwainokpor-friend-kazeem/