The family of a 27-year-old final year student of University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, late Mr. Solomon Yellow, allegedly killed by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, in March, 2019, has demanded the payment of the sum of N1billion as compensation and damages by the police.
The family also demanded that those officers who allegedly killed and deposited the body of late Solomon Yellow at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital mortuary be made to face the full weight of the law as justice for the family.
The representative of the family, Barrister Hannah West, who spoke on behalf of the petitioner and father of the deceased, Chief Dominic Daobu Yellow, made the position of the family known when she appeared before the panel, yesterday, to testify in evidence at the resumed sitting of the Rivers State Judicial Commission of Inquiry Investigating the alleged Acts of Violence, Torture, Brutality, Murder and Violation of Fundamental Rights of Citizens committed by officers, men and operatives of the Nigerian Police Force in the state.
West, who narrated how his younger brother, late Solomon Yellow was allegedly killed by operatives of SARS at Rukpokwu in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, told the commission that his late brother was last seen on March 13, 2019, and that he was declared missing by his fellow students at the University of Port Harcourt.
She further told the panel that the family got the information on how his younger brother was killed through a fellow detainee at SARS Station, adding the family was informed that his elder brother was taken to Port Harcourt Maximum Prison, when they went on search and rescue mission.
According to her, the alleged detainee, Mr. Chuks, told his elder brother that late Solomon Yellow was killed by SARS operatives on March 14, 2019, and that his body was deposited at the UPTH morgue, adding that when they got to UPTH morgue, they discovered the deposited body of their younger brother.
She listed the names of the officers who deposited his brother’s corpse at the mortuary as Samuel Sunday, who was the team leader, Friday Ikuku, and Austin Wilson, and prayed that the full weight of the law be served on them to serve as a deterrent to other police officers who may likely commit the same crime in future.
She explained that details of the police investigation based on the petition the family sent to Force Headquarters were not made available to them, despite the fact that the family spent over N1million to secure justice in the matter.
“We went to SARS severally but no success. They were unable to tell us the whereabouts of my younger brother but we got to know that he was late through one of the SARS detainees.
“The loss of our younger brother is irreparable but we seek for full weight of justice to be served on those identified SARS officers who took my brother to UPTH morgue”, she begged.
Although the trial did not commence without some legal hitches from the police legal team led by Superintendent of Police Imegu Gladys, who consistently opposed the hearing of the evidence on the grounds that they were not served, saying that proceeding with such evidence without proper service to the police was amounted to an ambush on the police.
However, it took the intervention of the Chairman of the panel, Justice Chukwunoye Uriri (rtd) to overrule the police counsel based on the established norms of the commission with regards to giving evidence.
The chairman, in his ruling, adjourned the matter to Tuesday, December 1, 2020, for cross-examination and continuation of the matter by the police legal team.
