From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
Abia State Panel on Police Brutality has assured all parties that justice would have been done to their matters by the time the Panel finishes its sitting and submits her recommendations to government.
Chairman of the Panel, Justice Sunday Imo (rtd) who gave the assurance when members of the Panel visited Oko Jombo, Ntueke and Degema Streets all in Aba South Local Government Area on a fact-finding tour, said they came to the area to see things for themselves.
It was alleged that police on October 1, 2019, in what was seen as a reprisal attack, burnt down some buildings in the area following the killing of a policeman, carting away his riffle and burning of a police vehicle.
Justice Imo, accompanied by Bishop Sunday Onuoha and other members of the Panel admitted that the fact-finding visit revealed what they were told during one of their sittings about the incident was true, stressing there was nothing the Panel could do immediately apart from assuring all parties that justice would be done.
“There was nothing the Panel could do at this stage expect to say we have taken evidence of the burnt buildings and what we saw had gone a long way to show what we were told during one of our sittings about the incident was true”.
A resident of the area, Pastor Harrison Uchechukwu told journalists how some policemen on October 1, 2019, stormed the area, shot sporadically and set some buildings on fire in retaliation to the killing of one of their colleagues by unknown gunmen.
Earlier, the Panel was at Ndiegoro police station where the Divisional Police Officer, Ibrahim Achem told members how the station was attacked by some hoodlums during the #ENDSARS protest.
He equally narrated how his men who went to work at the Oko Jombo/Ntueke/Degema area of Aba in 2019 were attacked by suspected gunmen, killing one policeman and made away with his riffle.
He called on both the state and federal governments to come to the aid of the station by renovating some of its buildings which he said were built in the ‘60s and assured that police in the area would always do their work diligently.