Secret Reporters No place to hide
Secret Reporters
After several clamors for police reforms in the country leading to the recent passing of the 2019 Police Reform Bill which seeks to create a Police Force that is more responsible and responsive to the needs of the public, the reverse seems to be the case as there are reports of several lives lost in cold blood as a result of their continuous unprofessional conduct and negligence on duty.
One of such exemplary case is seen in the death of Mrs. Grace Dagbo Ugochukwu, a Decorator and Event planner in her early forties whom according to reports was allegedly shot by a 3-Man armed robbery gang as a result of the delinquencies of the Police Officers on duty from Ovwian – Aladja Division, Delta State.
The horrifying incident we learned took place on 20th of July, 2019 at Igbiki Junction Ovwian-Aladja in Udu Local Government Area, Delta when Mrs. Grace Dagbo Ugochukwu, was on her way back from an event planning business alongside her daughter.
According to the 11-years old daughter’s narration amidst tears, they were on their way to one of their event planning functions, on approaching Igbiki Junction Ovwian-Aladja in Udu Local Government Area (LGA) the policemen at the checkpoint stopped her mother’s Toyota Sienne Vehicle with Registration Number AGL825EY demanding for her particulars which the deceased presented to them. The policeman in their bid to find something to hold against the woman further demanded her Tinted Glass Permit which she couldn’t find. However, she pleaded that she should be allowed to meet up her engagements for the day with a promise to return with the permit later in the day as she always plies that route.
Shockingly, the police officers forced she and her mother out of the vehicle and speedily zoomed off while her mother managed to clutch unto her handbag. Unexpectedly, a tricycle with two passengers purported to be armed robbers emerged from nowhere and without sensing the imminent danger; they hastily boarded in an attempt to follow up the policemen who were already driving away with her Mum’s car en-route to the Police Station.
“They pushed my mother and me out of the vehicle and zoomed off, my mum held on to her handbag. A tricycle immediately came out and we entered in an attempt to locate the destination of the police team, but just about 100meters from the checkpoint, they shot my mother, took her bag and pushed her down.” Little Miss Dagbo Ugochukwu said.
On reacting to the allegations levied on the Nigeria Police, the Public Relations Officer Delta State Police Command Deputy Superintendent (DSP) Onome Onowakpoyeya said that Mrs. Grace Dagbo defiance in permitting the policemen drive her to the Police Station was the major reason for her demise, a statement that contradicts the daughter’s narration.
SecretReporters however learned that nothing seems to have been done concerning the issue as family members of the deceased call on the Delta State Commissioner, Adeyinka Adeleke Bode ,to investigate while also pleading with the SSG , Human Rights Organizations and Civil Societies to wade into the gruesome murder of Mrs Dagbo Grace, a mother of four to ensure that her killers are brought to book.
