Family seeks Justice as they accuse policemen of beating truck driver to d*ath

The family of a 40-year-old truck driver, Cosmos Ozioko, who was allegedly killed by some policemen, have sought Justice.

It was gathered that on Sunday, December 11, 2022, about five policemen on a stop-and-search duty intercepted a vehicle conveying Cosmos and his younger brother, Kingsley Ozioko.

Upon getting to the checkpoint, the officers started to search Kingsley and Cosmos thoroughly, after which they reportedly pounced on them.

“We took a motorcycle from CPM Roundabout to Elele. When we got to the checkpoint, there were about five policemen there. They started searching us. I was the first person they searched.

“They searched everywhere, including my private parts, but found nothing. They now searched my brother. They searched our private parts as if they gave us something to hold for them. In the process, his phone fell and scattered.

“My brother asked them (policemen) to assemble his phone and give it to him; they didn’t answer him. I picked the mobile telephone and put it the way it was.

“To avoid trouble, I beckoned on my brother for us to leave. As we were leaving, my brother asked the okada rider who was waiting if that was how the policemen were searching everybody that passed.

“The next thing, two of the policemen rushed at him, and another one pounced on me. They started beating us, marching us with their boots and using the butts of their guns to hit us.

“They ordered us to sit on the ground and asked where we came from. We said Nsukka, Enugu State. They said, ‘Okay, this thing you people are doing in the village you have brought it here.’ One of them used the butt of his gun to hit us, the other two used their boots on us.

“They were beating us until my brother collapsed. I started calling him, ‘Brother, brother.’ People brought pure water sachets which I used on him. He was still breathing then, but weak,” Kingsley stated as he narrated their ordeal in the hands of the policemen.

Kingsley added that his brother was rushed to a private medical facility, Madona Hospital, Elele, where he was confirmed dead.