The family of late Mrs. Mary James Ojobane, who was allegedly killed by an official of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) in an attempt to confiscate her goods, has called on the police authorities and human right groups to help them get justice.
The deceased’s family disclosed that the incident, which occurred at the former Police Barracks at the Wuse Zone 6 Abuja, had left them devastated.
DAILY POST recalls that the deceased, a petty dealer on bean cake, was reportedly pushed down by an official of AEPB on September 1. She died few hours later in the hospital.
The AEPB officials had claimed that they were on an official assignment to destroy illegal shops and roadside kiosks.
However, checks by DAILY POST revealed that a certain Chuma Chukwu, a businessman, who lives in the same neighbourhood, had reportedly written a petition against the deceased and others, claiming that their goats destroyed his car tires and wires.
The deceased’s husband, James Ojobane, an indigene of Kogi State, who retired as an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in the Nigeria Police Force, said he was still in bed when his late wife went out for her daily business.
“She starts her business very early in the morning, around 6 a.m. On September 1, I was inside my room when I heard noise outside my backyard. I rushed out and met men from the AEPB, who said they wanted to ‘arrest’ my goats,” James said.
“We bought goats to use for an upcoming occasion and they are always tied to a tree at the back of our house,” he noted., adding that “when I got downstairs, one of them was trying to loosen the goats tied to a tree. I asked him why he was doing that; replied that my neighbour, Chuma Chukwu, a businessman, who deals on gas and diesel, wrote a petition against my daughter, who was in charge of rearing the goats, claiming that the goats found their way under his vehicle, thereby, ‘eating up his vehicle tires and wires.’”
When asked whether the deceased had any issue with Chuma before she died, James said, “I really can’t imagine what his problem is. I can’t recall any scuffle between Chuma and my wife or even my children. We are peaceful people; we have never had any issues with anybody since we started residing here. If Chuma had any issue with my wife, I wasn’t in the know, but I really doubt that; besides he isn’t the only one that has a car in this neighbourhood, why is this coming from him? Goats now eat up wires and tires? It’s unbelievable. Besides, our goats were never left to stray, we always tied them.
“I called my daughter who also pleaded with them to leave the goats alone but they wouldn’t listen. My daughter struggled with the men and my wife was pleading with them to let go of the goats. Whilst my wife was pleading with them, one of the men identified as Dogo Isah Umar, pushed my wife down and on noticing she was helplessly on the floor, they absconded.
“This was at about 9:45a.m. In a split of seconds, while I was still trying to figure out what was really happening, my wife started screaming, ‘my head, my head’. So I asked one of my sons to bring my vehicle so we could take my wife to the hospital, because all efforts to keep her calm were futile.
“She was so helpless; she wanted to urinate, she had to do it right there on her body while on the floor as we were trying to help her up,” he sobbed.
“When we all got to Wuse General Hospital, she was taken to the emergency ward where she laid, breathing with the aid of an oxygen. Soon afterwards, my daughter got a call from home that the men from AEPB returned and this time, with two white hiluxes and a white truck and she was told they were packing the drinks she sells,” he added.
James recalled that about 100 crates were loaded into the vehicles, including two blending machines which his wife used commercially.
“The tables and chairs my wife’s customers use to eat, were destroyed too. My children kept calling me to come and intervene but I couldn’t leave my wife in the hospital, after all, her life was more valuable to me than the things being destroyed and at this time, my daughter had gone to the Utako Police Division to report the incident but unfortunately, the policemen practically chased her out, saying her case had nothing to do with the police, instead, she should go to the AEPB to report.
“We kept waiting at the hospital hoping to go back with my wife, only for the doctor to call me aside to say she gave up the ghost,” he added.