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Mgbadike80:
#EndSARS: "We Drank Our Urine To
Quench Thirst In SARS Cell"--SARS
Victim

#EndSARS: "We drank our urine to
quench thirst in SARS cell"---SARS
Victim Recounts.
As the ‘EndSARS’ campaign
continues to sweep across the
nation, a 23-year-old man has
recounted his horrifying encounter
with operatives of the Special Anti-
Robbery Squad (SARS), Awkuzu, in
Anambra State.
It was learnt that some SARS
operatives had been threatening the
young man and because of this, his
real name is concealed.
It is, however, important to note that
Amnesty International is solidly
behind this young man in his quest
for justice. For the purpose of this
write up, he would be called
"Chijindu".
Chijindu was arrested on February
13, 2017, in Anambra State, after he
was accused of stealing a laptop.
He was moved to Awkuzu SARS
around 6:30pm that fateful day. He
recalled that immediately he was
dragged to SARS office, he was
frisked and his money, N15,400,
which was in his pocket, was
confiscated. The policemen also
allegedly collected his wristwatch,
necklace and phone.
He further recounted: “When the
Admin officer saw me, he directed
his men to go and hang me. They
took me to the back of a hall and tied
me with ropes. They tied my hands
behind; tied my two legs and then
joined the ropes in the hands and
that of the legs by the back causing
my chest to protrude.
They had two already prepared iron
stands where they used to hang
people. They crossed an iron rod
through the ropes and then lifted me
up by the rod and hung me on the
iron stand. They started using all
manner of items to beat me,
including machete and sticks. They
inflicted injuries on me.
“One of the officers, Simeon, used an
exhaust pipe to hit my teeth,
breaking them. I was left hanging for
more than three hours. I shouted
until I started vomiting blood.
Another officer, Agaba, told them to
bring me down; that he didn’t want
to hear my cries again. When the
officer left, my torturers forced a
handkerchief into my mouth and tied
it with a rope. I was in that state for
more than two hours and then I
became semi-conscious.”
According to Chijindu, when Simeon
came to check and noticed he had
almost lost consciousness, he called
their team leader, Aghaogu, who was
also the second in command (2ic) of
the team. Aghaogu ordered that
Chijindu be brought down.
Chijindu said: “They dumped me
inside the interrogation hall. Simeon
brought my phone, and asked me if I
was the owner. I told him I bought it
with my money. He took out my two
SIM cards and destroyed them with
his teeth. He then dropped the phone
into his drawer. He told me that it
was exhibit.
“Aghaogu instructed them to take me
to cell five, which is the worst cell in
Awkuzu SARS. Those in cell five
hardly eat or drink water. The next
morning, they brought me out of the
cell and took me to Onitsha. They
forced me to go and show them
where I sold phones and laptops. In
Onitsha, at Emeka Offor Plaza, they
arrested four persons, alleging that
the four guys bought things from me.
“But the truth was that I had never
met any of those men in my life.
They also took me to my aunt’s
house in Onitsha and arrested her
son. When we returned from Onitsha,
they returned me to the place where
they had hung me the previous day.
They threatened to hang me again
since I didn’t want to confess.
Another officer, Peter Emiator, took a
2×2 wood and started hitting me on
my two legs. He said that he would
cripple me since I seemed to be
stubborn.
He gave me several injuries.The
scars are still on my body.”
He said that at a point, Aghaogu took
Simeon to one corner and had a
discussion with him. After the
discussion, Simeon returned and
without blinking, pulled out his gun
and fired Chijindu’s right leg. Another
officer, who witnessed the cold
blooded shooting, reprimanded
Simeon.
“My leg started bleeding. Simeon
told him that he shouldn’t worry, that
they would treat me. Then they took
the singlet of one of their victims and
tied the bullet injury and returned me
to cell five. The owner of the singlet
was terribly tortured and shot in the
leg and dumped in the cell without
any treatment. He died the following
morning as a result of the torture,”
Chinjindu recalled.
The following day, the person that
allegedly complained that Chijindu
stole his laptop, paid a visit to SARS.
The suspect was brought and right in
his presence, the policemen started
quizzing Chijindu about the laptop.
Chijindu said: “I told them that I
didn’t know anything about the
laptop. The complainant left and I
was returned to the cell. That was
the last time I heard from the
complainant. He didn’t visit again. I
was kept in the cell from February
13, 2017 to March 17. We were not
given food except some Reverend
Sisters or family members of
detainees bring food. The Reverend
Sister usually bring food on
Thursdays and Saturdays.
On March 17, there was a rumour
that the Human Rights people were
coming on emergency inspection of
Awkuzu SARS. The policemen
brought us out; we were 10 in
number. They put us in bus and
moved us to another of their cell in
Neni.”
The Commander at Neni told Chijindu
and other suspects to remove their
boxers, which was the only garment
they had on. The suspects were left
naked. The commander instructed his
men to take the suspects to cell one.
This cell is nicknamed, ‘condemned
cell.’
Chijindu narrated: “We passed two
passages and then went to a third
passage, leading to the cell. After a
while, the commander came to
address us. He promised to speak
with the OC at Awkuzu, to permit
them at Neni to give us water to
drink.
“We waited for two days without any
food or water. Then some of us
started shouting from the cell, calling
on them to give us water. Some of us
started urinating and drinking the
urine. One of the officers at Neni,
nicknamed ‘Too-much-money,’
admonished us to save our strength.
He said that we still had a long way
to go. Because of this admonition,
we shouted the more. We screamed
that it was better for them to shoot
and kill us, than to starve us to
death.
They replied that they preferred to
watch us die one after the other.”
When the suspects continued to cry
weakly for water, the exasperated
policemen allegedly teargas them
into silence. The suspects started
crying; they prayed for death, but
death refused to come. They were
brought out from their cell, and
teargassed again, but this time with
another kind of teargas; this one was
wrapped. The policemen then locked
the suspects inside, with many
almost choking to death.
Chijindu said: “It was terrible. All of
my fellow inmates collapsed. Some
were foaming from the mouth. I was
the only conscious person, but the
effect of the gas was bending my
neck and twisting my two hands. We
were in that condition for three days.
On the third day, they came to check
whether we were still alive.
"They found that we were still
breathing, although the teargas had
dried almost all the water in our
system, making us weaker. They
washed the cells and applied some
substances after which they returned
all suspects to cells.”
All this while, the suspects were yet
to be given water. Chijindu said that
they continued to beg for water, but
there was no succor.
The Station Officer (SO) asked if any
of the suspect came to the world with
any cloth, they responded no. He
then asked them if they would go
with any cloth when they died, they
also responded no. He then left them
without saying another word.
Chijindu noted: “It was then we
realized that it was a death
sentence.”
He continued: “After that week, one
of us, Ifeanyi, was bailed, leaving
nine of us behind. Before the end of
that second week, four, among us
died; Okechukwu, Uchenna,
Uchechukwu and Chinedu. Their
corpses were left with us in the cell
until the policemen were ready to
evacuate them.”
Chijindu further revealed that on the
third week, three persons died;
Ngirima, Victor Azubuike and Ojoto.
Two among the corpses were moved
after a full day in the cell with the
suspects, while Ojoto’s corpse was
left in the cell with the suspects for
three days before it was evacuated.
Chijindu said that the corpse Ojoto
was already decomposing before it
was removed.
“When the policemen were taking
Ojoto’s remains away, I heard them
saying, “this one don rotten; no need
to carry go Akwuzu, make we bury
am for here”.
I managed with the little energy left
in me to stretch and peep through
our tiny window. I watched and saw
how they buried Ojoto beside a soak-
away-pit at the back of their office
there in Neni,” said Chijindu.
On Easter Sunday, one of the officers
came to attend to suspects in the
cells. He told the suspects that their
commander would celebrate Easter
for them. Alas, nothing was given to
them.
The following day, which was Easter
Monday, while Chidinju was praying,
he heard Tochukwu give up his last
breath . The suspects alerted the
policemen and Tochukwu’s corpse
was moved.
But before Tochukwu died, two new
suspects had joined them in the cell.
They are Ifeanyi Mba and Ekene
Nwoke. They were both transferred
from Akwuzu. When Tochukwu died,
Ifeanyi and Ekene started crying.
A week after the death of Tochukwu,
there were moves to bail one of the
new suspects, Chinjidu secretly
handed him a piece of paper. The
paper contained non-inked written
information on how to locate his
sister and the direction to his home
in Nnewi which he had managed to
scribble with a piece of broken
broom stick.
The young man fulfilled his promise;
he located the home and family of
Chijindu. He disclosed to them, the
horror the young men were passing
through in SARS detention facilities.
Chijindu family contacted some
Human Right activists. It was
discovered that Chijindu family
members didn’t know he was in
detention. They had been looking for
him, almost about to declare him
missing. Chijindu family and the
activists started making frantic
efforts to get him out.
They were further worried after
hearing that he had a gunshot wound
on his leg, which was festering.
Chijindu said: “The Human Rights
people went to Awkuzu and asked
after me, the OC SARS called the
Station Officer in Neni, who was
behind our cell taking his call. The
OC reprimanded the commander for
allowing us to survive. I overheard
their conversation because the SO's
phone was on speaker. The OC
accused them of giving us food, an
accusation which the SO denied.
Then the SO and his men brought all
of us out and started flogging us.
They were mad at me. They searched
everywhere, looking for writing
materials or phone, with which I
communicated to the outside world.
They couldn’t find anything. They
threatened to bring me out and
“finish” me. On April 24, 2017,
around 9:30pm, some policemen
came to Neni and took me to
Awkuzu.
“The following day, which was a
Tuesday, policemen brought me out
to the see the OC SARS. The OC
asked me if I was Chijindu, I said
yes. He openly expressed shock that
I survived Neni.
The OC then asked me whether I had
eaten anything, I said no. He asked
me what I wanted to eat, I told him
that I wanted liquid as I found it very
difficult to swallow. He asked them
to go and get me tea with bread.
The following day they took me to
Magistrate’s Court at Nteje.”
When Chijindu was arraigned, it was
discovered that there was no
complainant, no witness. He also
didn’t have legal representation. The
police charged him for armed
robbery. The Magistrate referred the
case to High court.
The New Telegraph Newspaper, had
earlier chronicled an award winning
piece on the killings of suspects and
other atrocities committed by SARS
men across Nigeria. The chronicle
was recognized and applauded by
the Wole Soyinka Centre of
Investigative Journalism.
The atrocities in SARS had spanned
many Inspectors-Generals of Police,
but it is on record, that former IGP,
Solomon Arase rose against such
horrendous activities. It was also
during his administration that some
SARS men were dismissed for killing
detainees and other shocking acts.
Immediately Arase left office, the
Force went back to its old ways of
flagrant impunity.
An Amnesty International Nigeria
spokesperson, Mr Damian Ugwu,
reacting to those support SARS
activities, said: “It was disheartening
to see pictures of young man and
women in Port Harcourt and Abuja,
carrying banners in support of SARS.
I often wonder how far some
Nigerians are willing to go to survive.
Most worrisome is that some people
who claimed to represent Anambra
State were also part of the charade.
For the record Anambra State is the
home of SARS Awkuzu.”
According to Amnesty International,
detainees were subjected to “horrific
torture methods, including hanging,
starvation, beatings, shootings and
mock executions, at the hands of
corrupt SARS officers.
Ugwu, said: “A police unit created to
protect the people has instead
become a danger to society, torturing
its victims with complete impunity
while fomenting a toxic climate of
fear and corruption. Our research has
uncovered a pattern of ruthless
human rights violations where
victims are arrested and tortured until
they either make a ‘confession’ or
pay officers a bribe to be released.
Most of the time, huge amounts
ranging from N100,000 to even
N500,000 was paid to secure the
release of some of those detained.
Failure to meet such huge financial
demands meant imminent death
while in detention. The SARS officers
are getting rich through their brutality
because as you can see, it seems
that torture has become a lucrative
business.”
Amnesty International said it found
130 detainees living in overcrowded
cells at a SARS detention in Abuja
known as the ‘Abattoir’.
Investigation has showed that people
detained by SARS, are often not
allowed access to a lawyer, a doctor
or family members while in
incarceration. Yet in various cases
where victims of police torture or
other ill-treatment attempted to seek
justice, the authorities took no
action.
“It is time for the authorities to
ensure that officers responsible for
such human rights violations are
finally held accountable. There is
also an urgent need for robust
legislation that ensures all acts of
torture are offences under Nigeria’s
criminal law,” said Ugwu.
The Police Public Relation Officer
(FPRO), Jimoh Moshood, has
dismissed allegations of torture and
crimes leveled against SARS. SARS
was established by the Nigeria police
to tackle armed robberies. On
December 2, Nigerians took to the
social media to condemn impunity
among SARS operatives. One of
those who shared their experiences
is Chijindu.
Moshood told Nigerians to be wary of
their use of social media saying the
#EndSARS was started by someone
with an ulterior motive. He said the
social media was porous and users
should be cautious.
His words: “Somebody who has an
ulterior motive put up the hashtag
and said #EndSARS now. Nigerians
should be mindful because the social
media is very porous. What is the
cause of the outcry in the first place?
This was why the IGP was concerned
about the cause of the outcry. People
should be mindful of the intention of
the person that put up the hashtag
that people are falling into it.”
According to him, SARS has been in
operation for over 40 years and
those calling for a scrap of the squad
should disabuse their minds as they
are performing their duties well.
Speaking concerning complaints and
allegations by some social media
users of being brutalized by SARS,
Moshood said Nigerians should
report complains about the
operations of SARS.
He said: “We’re not saying there is
no infraction. If there are infraction
not only in SARS personnel, even
other conventional policemen that
carry out other responsibility, people
should report to us and it will be
addressed. When you have
complaints, report to us and it will be
addressed.
There has not been any specific
violation of human rights leveled
against any SARS personnel. So
anybody that is spreading such a
rumor is not doing the nation any
good. SARS has no excesses and
when there is any, we do investigate.
The call for SARS to be scrapped
should be condemned by all well-
meaning Nigerians.” the Police
spokesman said.
SOURCE: https://web.facebook.com/
AnambraOnline/
posts/1493588180719445

https://www.nairaland.com/4239124/endsars-drank-urine-quench-thirst#63375277

loveth360:
I can remember the demolition of the Upper class hotel.

I think it is around 2012/2013.




The owner of the hotel is from Umuchu,i don't know if am right.

dangotesmummy:
sacking is not just enough.its just a slap in the wrist punishment.i heard he's a billionaire and has political connections and influence.he should be killed.its an insult to humanity and Nigerians if such animal is still alive.God will not forgive us after all the barbaric and Brutish crimes he has committed you just sack him like that without killing it.


For goodness sake this animal was a high ranking SARS official before he became an SSA to a governor ( can't remember the Name of the governor) and you think sacking will affect him?


He has to die a slow, painful and disgraceful death.i even heard he made his billions from selling human parts.tufiaaaaa

How does this man even sleep sef

Nightstalker:
This is his number

His name is Azubike Ezeokoli James
He lives in Dutse in Abuja , he plays video games alot he sells gadgets he had a stand at banned plaza around wuse2 in Abuja .. talk to the guys who sells.videogames there through them you can trace him
08095111645
0806 714 9907
I am getting his photo now hold on

SavageMaster:
How come Willie Obiano appointed the James Nwafor guy as his SSA on Security all this while without doing a background check on him?

Nightstalker:
[s][/s]


His name is Azubike Ezeokoli James
He lives in Abuja , he plays video games alot he sells gadgets he had a stand at bannex plaza .. talk to the guys who sells.videogames there through them you can trace him

08095111645
0806 714 9907

what I have posted is enough for you to.trace him if you know what you are doing

He works for Promasidor

He needs serious mending

SenecaTheYonger:
I fear Anambra state when it comes to wickedness. They do some of the best things but also commit some of the most deadly atrocities known to man

benzene00:
please who's information is this

Abagworo:
Peter Obi worked with this Nwafor in unleashing mayhem on Igbo citizens especially Biafran organizations. Even this demolition of Upper Class Hotel was carried out under Peter Obi's supervision alondside Nwafor so why did the post carefully dodge this open truthhttps://www.nairaland.com/1954739/peter-obi-upper-class-hotel

Spiritz:
I could not hold back my tear, the shout of nne mo nne mo is so touching. I felt i was the one been shot at, because same cry would have come of my mouth, am also an only son so much attached to my mother. Am angry and
Sad God took side with James kept quite and did nothing

dangotesmummy:
Is the James now arrested? Why can't they go to the front of his house and drag protest till he owns up to his crine

Juanmike:
My own Neni, never knew there was Sars in my home town.

ensamy:
But they might be a missing link here, this CSP James Nwafor might be Gov. Obiano's hit man.
an investigation should be properly done.

Nightstalker:
[s][/s]

See una ibo people suppose kill this guy I swear this guy na total bastard !!

Make una give am ipobexposed treatment this guy is a beast and if you need to trace him holla at me make I help you guys ..

I swear una suppose shoot this guy kill am sharply this one will be used by government to attack protesters

For.this one to have the mind to try to cause divide among the citizens at this time?

He should die I swear

SavageMaster:
How come Willie Obiano appointed the James Nwafor guy as his SSA on Security all this while without doing a background check on him?