A lawyer based in Delta State, Sunny Ekwe (Esq.) is bed-ridden at a hospital, following an assault on him by five soldiers, who fractured his spinal cord at Okpara Waterside community.
Two of the soldiers have been arrested by police, who handed them over to the Commanding Officer, 222 Battalion, Agbarho-Otor, Ughelli, where they are currently detained.
A lawyer, activist and friend of the victim, Maxwell Ogedegbe, in a posting on his Facebook page, said the incident occurred March 11. His words: “On March 11 at about 7p.m., Ekwe went to visit a relative at the Okpara Waterside, when, suddenly, as he was about to leave, a young boy demanded he follow him to meet some other boys seated at a dark area. “In the process of resisting the boy, the boy called the other four men, who descended on the lawyer and subjected him to the crudest humiliation and brutality ever and abandoned him to die in a closed dried-up drain.
“Because of the atrocities of the boys in the area, nobody in the community could intervene as they are young soldiers. The lawyer was rushed to the hospital at Isiokolo, but referred to Orerokpe after he was revived.
“The police at Isiokolo made an attempt to arrest the boys, but they resisted and the police chickened out, claiming as military officers, they must be dealt with by their command.
“It took the intervention of my humble self and a serving magistrate to prevail on the DPO, who mobilised about 20 mobile police personnel to the community. Two were apprehended, as three had left before police arrived. “They were arrested and formally handed over to the Commanding Officer of 222 Battalion, where they have since been in custody.
They had just returned from nine-month military training. “We salute the re-awakened doggedness of the DPO and the forthrightness of the Commanding Officer, who have called for the return of the fleeing officer.
Truly, they have realised this is a democracy.”
Source – Vanguard
