Two persons have been arrested by police operatives in Anambra State for their alleged involvement in battering a pregnant woman which was said to have resulted in her having miscarriage.
The suspects, whose names were simply given as, Chigbo, Okwudili, among others, according to a source, had on August 1, 2009, armed themselves with matchets, cudgels and wood, swooped on their victim, Mrs. Agatha Ikeh, and allegedly beat her black and blue. The incident took place at Afor Nnobi market.
According to the source, policemen later swung into action, arrested and detained the suspects. On interrogation, they claimed they mistook the victim for another woman they wanted to attack.
The State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emeka Chukwuemeka who confirmed the incident told Daily Sun in a telephone interview that he was yet to have the detailed report of the incident.
Meanwhile, the victim has forwarded a strong-worded petition to the State commissioner of police, alleging that the police at Nnobi Division were too sluggish in investigating the matter.
In a three-page petition, written on her behalf by her lawyer, Ambrose Emejue, Mrs. Ikeh and her husband, Bernard demanded immediate re-arrest of the suspects and re-investigation of their alleged attack on the victim.
The petition said: “In view of the rampaging effects of these gruesome crimes viz: kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism, militancy, murder and violent crimes (as in this case), we demand for immediate re-investigation of this callous and brutal attempt to kill a poor, helpless woman, whose pregnancy had been aborted by the identified miscreants”.
“We, therefore, view the sluggish investigation conducted by the Nnobi Police Division as a conspiracy and demands immediate re-arrest of the culprits for attempted assassination, assault occasioning grievous bodily harm, inducing abortion and stealing with violence,” they insisted.
He also attached doctor’s report to the petition, which was also copied to the United Action Against Corruption and Justice International, media and the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Nnobi. The petitioners claimed that the victim had gone to Afor Nnobi market to sell goat and cocoyams before the suspects attacked her.
The petitioners contended that the suspects, who wielded matchets and other dangerous weapons, dispersed the market women, who were shocked by their violent attack on the woman. They allegedly subjected her to a harrowing experience, tore her clothes to shreds and abandoned her in the open market, naked and in the pool of her own blood and with multiple lacerations.
The petitioners further stated that when the husband of the victim was alerted about the attack, he rushed to the scene only to see his wife soaked in blood, with shreds of clothes tied on her waist. He was said to have reported the matter to Nnobi Police Station. It was after their arrest that the suspects claimed that it was a case of mistaken identity.
The lawyer said because of the degree of injuries on the victim, she was rushed to the General Hospital, Onitsha while the hospital management referred her to Concord Hospital (Center for fertility management), where she had been on admission since August 12.
He expressed concern that notwithstanding the foregoing, the police at Nnobi granted the suspects bail the following day, in tandem with their earlier boast that the police would not prosecute them, even if the victim dies. Even when they were issued notice to appear before in Magistrate Court on August 17, they did not show up. Rather, they reiterated their resolve to kill or maim her, if the family insisted on prosecuting the matter.
The lawyer said the police at Nnobi had not given them any reason for refusing to arraign the suspects, or made any attempt to ensure the treatment of the victim, whose hospital bill is still unpaid till date.
From NWABUEZE OKONKWO, Onitsha
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