The circumstances surrounding the gruesome death of Japheth Njoku, a young security guard believed to have been tortured and killed in cold blood while in police custody at the Tiger Base police unit in Imo State, will soon be unravelled.
The ordeal of Japheth was recently spotlighted by executive director of Rule of Law Accountability and Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) in an article titled: ‘Tiger Base Must Fall: The Murder of Japheth Njoku and Nigeria’s Warped Security Apparatus’
Japheth, a 32-year-old employee at the Alaba Market in Owerri was arrested at the behest of one Mrs.Oluchi Obiagwu, a trader at the same market. She allegedly latched on a matter over missing cigarettes to blame the deceased for the loss of N15 million worth of goods over the past four years — an accusation that had never been previously reported to the market authorities or police.
At the Tiger Base police unit, Japheth was believed to have been tortured to death by a relative of Mrs Obiagwu , one Inspector Barnabas and his team. The unit is known for all manner of human rights violations in the name of waging war against kidnappers and kidnapping in Imo State.
At the Magistrate Court before her Lordship, Chinaka U Edith, the deceased’s relatives, including Augustina Njoku, Mr Uchechukwu Njoku and Mr Chibuzor Njoku demanded an investigation into the cause of death of their loved one.
The quartet of Inspector Barnabas, CSP Oladimeji who is the officer-in-charge of the notorious facility, Imo State Commissioner of Police and Attorney General of Imo State were dragged to the court as respondents in the case.
In her ruling, the Magistrate ordered that, “there shall be an autopsy to be carried out on the deceased body of late Mr Japheth Njoku who died in police custody at Tiger Base to determine whether the deceased died of unnatural death.”
The court ruled that the autopsy must be conducted between 16th and 28th of June, 2025 at a government hospital at a cost to be borne by the complainants. The order also gave the complainants the right to bring an independent pathologist to supervise the autopsy.
The court added: “The court shall call the witnesses and parties for their testimonies on oath after the autopsy to determine first defendant (Inspector Barnabas) indictment if necessary case.”
The case was adjourned to July 2 for the report of the autopsy.
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