A lecturer in the Political Science Department of Abia State University (ABSU), Uturu, Dr. Udoh Ogbonnaya, has urged the state’s judicial panel of inquiry on police brutality, extra-judicial killings and other related matters to grant him N50 million for medical treatment in India following the brutal slaps he allegedly received from an officer that affected one of his ears and eyes.
He made the allegation yesterday in Umuahia while testifying before the committee, headed by a retired chief judge, Justice Sunday Imo. Recalling the incident, the don told the panel that the incident happened on January 26, 2020 while he was exiting the Umuahia ShopRite complex.
Ogbonnaya said the cop on duty mistakenly hit his vehicle with a baton, adding that when he alighted from the car, he was told that the baton was meant for a tricycle operator that was disrupting traffic.
He added that as the incident was getting out of control, more officers were invited to arrest the situation.
“The moment the invited police officers arrived at the scene, one of them accosted me and mercilessly slapped and assaulted me, seized my clothes, as well as charged his gun at me. When the situation was brought under control, the Keke operator was whisked away by the police,” he alleged.
According to him, the incessant tingling sounds he was receiving from his ear forced him to visit the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Unit of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Umuahia for treatment.
He said at the medical facility, the unit’s doctors told him that his left ear had issues. That he should on no account allow water to enter it, adding that he urgently needed medical operation or surgery in India to correct the problem.
Ogbonnaya claimed that when he petitioned the state’s Commissioner of Police on the matter, not much was done, adding that the culprit was yet to be identified.
In his submission, police lawyer, Augustine Udo, said the person the lecturer alleged assaulted and brutalised him was not an officer. Consequently, the panel adjourned till March 9, 2021 for further hearing on the matter. Theguardianng