July 26, (THEWILL) – Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), on Wednesday, tasked the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to take over the investigation and fish out perpetrators of the heinous killing of a young lady, Miss Chinyere Awuda, found dead in the swimming pool of Cosmila Hotel in Awka, Anambra State capital.
HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, warned that the police must not sweep the case under the carpet because of the influence of mega monetary inducements from powerful people connected to the incident.
The group said it will be a subversion and subjugation of justice if the police failed to dispassionately carry out an independent forensic probe to unravel the mysterious killing of the young lady within the hotel premises. HURIWA said it has become imperative that the IGP transfers the investigation to a specially set up forensic and crime investigators from his office so the Anambra State Police Command does not undermine the dispensation of justice. The Rights group said there are allegations that many police officers working in the Anambra State Police Command have been in the state for many years and are alleged to be surviving by sending financial inducements to top officers in the headquarters in Abuja so they will remain in Anambra, just as it is being alleged that rogue officers engage in transactional deals with such controversial cases as the alleged lynching of the girl in the Awka-based hotel.
According to reports, the young lady was at Club Mila, a nightclub reportedly owned by Cosmila Hotels in Awka, where one Gabriel Chinemere and friends, believed to be clubbers as well, allegedly started beating and molesting her for reasons yet unknown.
The deceased, who hailed from Nnobi in Idemili South Local Council of Anambra State, was reportedly found dead and her corpse dumped in the swimming pool.
The molestation allegedly took place in the presence of the club’s manager, Steven Junior, who allegedly directed the club security guards and bouncers to stand down and turn off the lights, while the girl was being beaten and dragged outside the club.
The family of the deceased reported the matter to the Anambra State Police Command when they found their daughter dead in a swimming pool in the hotel. However, the police spokesman in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed that some suspects were already in custody, but failed to confirm their number and reveal their exact identity.
HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “The step by the Anambra State Government sealing off Cosmilla Hotel, Awka, where Chinyere Awuda allegedly lost her life is a step in the right direction.
“However, beyond the sealing of the hotel, justice must be served on the matter. Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo should be personally concerned about seeing to the logical action adopted by relevant law enforcement authority both at the Federal and state level just as the Rights group counselled the Anambra State Government to do everything within the legal authority vested in the state administration to bring the killers to justice no matter how highly placed. HURIWA also warned against delayed justice given that the Parents of the deceased are said to be economically disadvantaged.
“Money should never be allowed to influence the ability of the police investigators to reach a verifiable and concrete determination of what led to her death. This is because the attempt to propagate a different tale from the initial story of the cause of her death must never be allowed or else it will be seen that Nigeria Police Force has still not realised that life is sacred and inviolable.
“HURIWA asks the IGP to do everything within his power to demonstrate his competence and capacity to punish the offenders who should be found through scientific and forensic details to be generated by the investigators.
“Those who attended the party should be interviewed by the office of the IGP in camera so as to safeguard the confidentiality of their testimony. Justice must be served. As a human rights organisation, it is not in our place to apportion blame to any person for that despicable killing of the young Anambra girl, but our duty as consciences of the nation is to consistently remind the law enforcement agencies never to undermine and sabotage the law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
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