Students Protest After Police Kill And Bury Colleague, Exhume Corpse For Autopsy

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FOLLOWING the setting up of a panel of inquiry to unravel the alleged killing of a 22-year-old Ibrahim Momodu, a final year student of the University of Benin by a police officer, last Wednesday, by Governor Adams Oshiomhole, the corpse was yesterday exhumed by the police to undergo an autopsy.
Meanwhile, controversy has continued to trail the killing of Momodu. While the police command in the state is claiming that he was a robber who was shot while trying to evade police arrest, the family said their son was never a criminal and was shot unjustly by the police.

However, it was learnt that the DPO who allegedly shot the deceased was being investigated as the state Commissioner of Police, Funsho Adebanjo, had vowed to investigate the matter.

Civil society organizations and students staged a peaceful protest last Tuesday, calling for the investigation of the matter.
Executive Director of the African Network for Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ, Rev. David Ugolor, who led other civil society organizations to the family of the deceased and to the cemetery, commended the state government for investigating the matter, just as he condemned the alleged extra judicial killing of the student.

Governor Oshiomhole had last Tuesday urged the parties to remain calm and allow the panel to investigate the matter with a view to unravel the truth. However, there was heavy presence of the police at the cemetery where the corpse was exhumed, yesterday.

The exhume body was taken away by a team of pathologists and Vanguard observed that the deceased was buried with the cloths which he wore the day he was shot. Counsel to the family of the deceased Barr.Jeff Uworghiren, described as wicked “the allegation by the police that the deceased was a criminal.

But I am happy we have our pathologist ready so we will see how it goes. We are only asking for justice, this is a test case for the new chairman of the Police Service Comm.