I have not seen my son since he was arrested in 2007- Mother tells Rivers Panel

2007

Mrs Patience Mbang says she saw her son last"On September ,20, 2007, at about 5:20pm after he was arrested by Policemen.

Mrs Patience Mbang says she saw her son last on September, 20, 2007 at about 5:20 pm after he was arrested by the police

Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt

A distraught mother has narrated how her son was arrested by policemen when he went to watch football in his friend’s house in Ogbunabali area of Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State in 2007, but has not been seen since then.

The woman, Mrs. Patience Mbang, who said the incident happened on September 20th, 2007 testified on Friday at the Rivers State Judicial Commission of Inquiry on alleged acts of Violence, Torture, Brutality, Murder and Violation of Fundamental Human Rights of citizens by men of the Nigeria Police.

Mbang, told the Hon. Justice Chukwunenye Uriri (Rtd)-led panel that she was not allowed to see her son who was arrested on September 20, 2007 by officers of the Old GRA Police Station, Port Harcourt, before and after he was killed.

She said: “On September, 20, 2007, at about 5:20pm, my son left our residence at Ogbunabali and went to his friend’s house to watch football. Suddenly, there was a gunshot and everybody ran out to find out what happened.

“It was Policemen from Old GRA led by Supol Bassey who came to arrest my son and others. They were taken to Old GRA Police Station. I got information and rushed to the station, but was not allowed to see him. The following morning, I got there very early with other mothers, but was not allowed to see him.”

She said a police officer at the station told her to go to the Port Harcourt Prisons as his son and other suspects had been taken to court and would be remanded in the prison.

Mbang said: “After hanging around the vicinity of the Police Station, an officer told me that they had been taken to court and that I should go to the prison to see my son. But when I got there, we searched, but he was not there.

“As I was about leaving, I saw one of the boys who was arrested with my son and he told me that he was the only person taken to court and remanded at the Prisons. When I returned to the Police Station, one man that works around there told me that he heard gunshots inside the Police Station in the morning, but did not know what was happening.

“That may be the time they killed my son while pretending to be taking him and others to court that Monday morning. Since then, I have not seen my son since that time. I am demanding for justice for my son.”

Chairman of the Panel, Hon. Justice Chukwunenye Uriri (Rtd) adjourned the matter to December 6, 2020, for cross-examination of the witness and continuation of hearing.

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