After their operations that lasted several hours, the suspect was allegedly shot dead by the six-man operatives before they later dumped his body by the highway along Otukpo road before fleeing.
The victim’s wife who is nursing a six-month-old baby, told WeeklyTrust that prior to that black Sunday, one of the NDLEA men had made a telephone call to her late husband, demanding that he should make some money available to them as it is usually done on a monthly basis as “settlement fees” to enable him continue with his hemp business.
According to Mrs. Sewuese Chia, her late husband told the caller that he has no money to tip them for the month of October and pledge to double it in the month of November which did not go down well with them.
She stated that on Sunday night at about 3:00 am, six officers of the NDLEA arrived the compound and started knocking for my husband to open the door. They Latter forced the door open and started fishing looking for him which led to the breaking of their television and DVD sets before dragging him outside. She explained that after a thorough search of the room, they found nothing incriminating.
Mrs. Sewuese alleged that one of the officers later shot her husband in her presence before they ordered her to go back into the room or they will do same to her. They started dragging him to the main road where they dumped the body and fled.
The deceased elder brother, Mr. Charles Ager Ikyura, told our correspondent that “we do not know why they killed my brother”. He did not owe them any credit; they would have left him alone since he had no money at the moment to settle them.”
He said, “the act displayed by NDLEA operatives was a clear case of extra judicial killing. How armed officers can kill a defenseless civilian in the guise of searching for Indian hemp? Why didn’t they take the corpse along with them as exhibit?”
This is why the family reported the incident to the police at Taraku for investigation and prosecution of the suspects. The father of the deceased, Elder Chia Kordaa, said his son was the bread winner of the family who was cut down in his prime. According to him, he will not recommend the killing of the suspects but they must face justice while compensation should be paid to take care of the family he left behind.
When contacted, the Assistant State Commander of the NDLEA in charge of operations, Mr. Joseph Uzoaru, said the six officers went on a legitimate operation to arrest the suspect who has been on their wanted list.
He explained that when they knocked on late Chia’s door, he came out with a matchete and the officers released a bullet that killed him; saying they fled the scene for fear of reprisal attack by the community, adding that the officers don’t accept money in the course of operations.
The police public relations officer for the Benue state police command, ASP Alaribe Ejike, confirmed the incident and the arrest of six officers of the NDLEA at Aliade to ascertain their level of involvement.
The PPRO said since they killed the suspected Indian hemp dealer and fled the area, the family reported the case of extra-judicial killing against them and after the conclusion of investigations, they will be charged to court for conspiracy and culpable homicide.
