allAfrica.com * PORT HARCOURT MAYHEM: Our Brothers Were not Militants -Relations of Killed Suspects Vanguard (Lagos) NEWS 5 January 2008 Posted to the web 7 January 2008 By George Onah, Port Harcourt Bureau Chief Families of slain residents of Port Harcourt in the New Year shootout between the police and militants of the Niger Delta Vigilante outfit are trading accusations over the death of six men paraded as militants. While the police insist that the men they killed were militants, the families, friends and colleagues absolve them of being members of the group. The entire incidents leading to the controversy was triggered by the display of the corpses of the victims of the shootout by the state commissioner of police Mr. Felix Ogbaudu, who said his men responded to the attack at two police stations and in the process killed six militants. But the major disagreement stemmed from the manner the corpses were hurriedly buried by the police and in a mass grave. Some colleagues of the slain are threatening legal action if the security people failed to clear the names of their loved ones who were killed and treated shabbily even in death. At the center of this are the corpses of two staffers of the Nigerian Ports Authority and that of a computer analyst. Saturday Vanguard met with some family members and colleagues of the dead and their anger was clear. First to speak was Comrade Emmanuel Iyang, Chairman Senior Staff Association, Onne Port Complex. Hear him: Yesterday (January 1, 2008), we woke up to the new year with a bad report. The report of the sudden murder of two of our members who are bonafide and genuine officers of NPA. To crown it all, we were made to understand that the commissioner of police, Rivers State, went on air to tell the world that everybody that was killed yesterday (Tuesday) was a militant. We want to use this opportunity to debunk that claim that our two officers, Kebbi and Olatubosuyn are not and were not militants. We want to let the public know that they were murdered in cold blood innocently. This can happen to anybody. We want the Rivers State Government to look into this matter with a view to looking into the issue because we can attest to the fact that these people who are legitimate employees of NPA are not militants, this is our cry and our plea. Demands We want the Rivers State Government to set up a panel of inquiry to unravel the mystery behind this issue. We also want to state that Port Harcourt is not safe for anybody for now. These innocent people who were going about their legitimate movements were murdered and hurriedly buried only to be exhumed. Government must do something urgently to address the security situation in the state. We are calling for the re-imposition of curfew in the state. Plans Shortly, the NPA as an organization will make a public statement about this matter but as a union, which has a duty to protect our members, first we thought it wise to counter whatever opinion the commissioner of police has dished out to the world. We can attest to the fact that the two of our members that were killed are not militants. How they died What happened was that it was the eve of the New Year, the two men were returning to the house of MacLean Olatubosun in Borokiri. They had just left NPA quarters at Harbour Close when unfortunately they ran into the scene of violence between the militants and the police. Information about their death Someone called yesterday to inform one of us who was even on holiday at Taraba State that they saw NPA vehicle at Ndoki Estate or waterside. When they described the vehicle, we hurriedly ran there and discovered that it was the vehicle used by MacLean Olatubosun. Discovery of bodies In fact, it took us from morning, when the news was broken to us till noon when their bodies were exhumed at the cemetery in Borokiri. The bodies were later washed before we could identify them and taken to the Braithwaite Memorial Hospital mortuary. Clue to discovery It is the spraying of the vehicle with registration no FG 232 J41, with bullets that gave an insight to the whereabouts of the bodies of the men. As we searched for the bodies, some of our members who went to Borokiri police station were threatened with arrest and the police told then that the bodies of thee men could not be located. The NPA staff were asked to go to the mortuary and on rushing there, no corpse was found there. This time, it was 10 a.m. The police later brought out the bodies after the intervention of a pastor of the Redeemed Church, whose member was also killed. Still boiling with anger and spitting fire another labour leader of the authority Comrade Stanley Amadi, Chairman Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, Rivers Port, said, "We learnt that they were killed. The source of their death, as we are trying to trace relates to what happened on the 31st December night/ 1st January 2008. We learnt that they came from the church and were heading for the house of one of them in the vehicle, when they ran into the police or militant, that we cannot explain. Vehicle But we are very sure that the vehicle they were driving is ours of the NPA and both men are our members, workers of the Nigerian Ports Authority. We knew about their death when our vehicle was discovered at the waterside of Ndoki, but it has been recovered and taken to the police in Borokiri Request What we are telling everybody and the world is that the announcement by the commissioner of police Rivers State that these men were cultist or militants is grossly incorrect. In fact their bodies were displayed among four others and branded them as militants. We reject the appellation of militants being labeled the two men. Suspicion When we examined the corpses, we saw that the hands of the two men were raised and that is the sign of surrender. Also, their identity cards were on them and militants would not carry ID cards belonging to NPA. Submission I am stating categorically that those men were not militants; they were decent members of the public because I know that the NPA does not breed militants. Both men were still in service and not retired. Origin Those men who were brutally murdered were not even indigenes of this state and so do not have a reason to become militants as to want to fight for any cause here. One is Yoruba while the other if from Bayelsa State. So, we would not see any reason why they should be killed and tagged as militants. To this end, we call on the state government to investigate this matter and the managements of NPA would soon make pronouncements. Legal action Maritime Workers Union is a national union, one of the strongest unions in the 29 industrial unions in the country. We have the president general at the national level. But here in the state we are taking this action (addressing the press). But if it will entail the need to prove to the world that the men were not militants and the police insist that they were, we would go to any length. The bitterness of losing their loved ones was equally noticed among the family of one of the slain Mr. Clement Eli. The said Eli was the son of a clergyman who is on a church missionary work outside the shores of Nigeria. Also, his mother is said to be in London, working as well. With this, it is obvious that Clement is a product of a decent and religious home that cannot possibly engage in militancy, particularly as he was a computer analyst by calling. He had a future and had a gainful means of surviving, apart from the hard currency he receives from both parents. In addition, his grandmother Madam Regina Tamuno Nelson, a pensioner of an oil company and seamstress, lives in affluence. Clement was well provided for having attended a highly rated nursery, primary, school before his tertiary education. Madam Nelson spoke to Saturday Vanguard on the circumstances that led to the boy's death and the vexing issue of being tagged a militant by the police. Discovery of my grandson's corpse I was in the church yesterday morning (January 1) when I was called by someone to come home urgently that there was an emergency. I wanted to know what the matter was but they refused to tell me. As I got close to the house here, I saw all my neighbours crying. As I got nearer, I knew that something was seriously wrong. When I got into the room, someone confirmed to me that they had seen my grandson lying dead where the police displayed corpses of those they killed. I quickly ran to the police station but they didn't allow me to enter. Finally, they allowed me in and in company of my brother. I now asked if I could check the corpses but they (police) refused, that they were investigating the matter. They also said the bodies would be deposited at the BMH. My grandson was 23 and heading for 24 years of age when they brutally terminated his life. How he died You see, he was a very humble child and he went to church and was returning home on the night he was killed. We normally have prayer gathering to usher in the New Year and I was waiting for my grandson, (burst into tears). After a while, she continued and said, "But my grandson whom I loved so much and loved by everybody, never came back." Police claim The police are claiming that all the people they killed were militants but I am telling you here that my son is not. My son cannot even defend me if a young boy like him talks to me rudely, he would rather tell me or hold me and bring me inside the house than think of fighting. Talk to any of the neighbours here and they would attest to what I am saying. Parentage His father is in the United States on a church mission work while his mother is in London. Finding his corpse The police had asked us to go to the mortuary to wait but we did not see the police at the mortuary. We went back to the DCO and told him that we had been waiting at the mortuary without result. It was then that they called the police officer that supposedly took the bodies to the mortuary, where he later said that he took the corpses to the cemetery. He was then ordered to go and exhume them and that was done and the bodies cleaned up before being taken to the mortuary. State of corpse I wouldn't know whether the corpse had started decomposing because they did not allow me to see it. I am handing over the death of my son to God Almighty who is the greatest judge. All we are asking is for the boy's corpse to be released to us for proper burial. He was not a militant and should not be treated shabbily. We the family are requesting that the government intervenes and his corpse be released to us. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2008 Vanguard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------