Nigerians have condemned police officers at an Obudu Divisional Police Station in Cross River State for allegedly assaulting a suspect who confessed to killing his mother.
The suspect, identified as Mathias Amunde was heard in a video admitting to killing his biological mother in connivance with his friend.
Amunde, while being interrogated by about three police officers at the police station, had received several slaps and beatings from his interrogators before admitting that he actually murdered his mother.
The Point reports that the suspect was feasibly tensed while narrating how his friend assisted him in killing his mother.
According to him, he hit the victim with hammer.
Immediately, he changed his story, saying that it was stick that he used in killing the woman. The suspect’s confession and change of narration apparently infuriated the police officers who jointly hit him with their fists.
Amunde also confessed that his friend was the one who dragged her mother from the room and dumped her inside a well in the premises. But, after the police officers beat him further and accused him of telling lies, he quickly added that he joined hands with his fleeing friend to throw his mother’s corpse into the well.
Again, the cops became enraged, and started slapping Amunde whose two hands were cuffed backward.
Meanwhile, a human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju, has reacted to the manner the police officers obtained information from the suspect, saying Amunde may likely walk free after trial.
Adeyanju, a lawyer, who shared the video of the suspect’s questioning from Agba Jalingo’s wall, on his Facebook page, on Sunday, argued that the confessional statement of the suspect would not be accepted in the court of law, citing some sections of the constitution to back up his claims.
He wrote, “Without any prejudice to this case and the work of investigators: This confessional statement is unacceptable because (it) was obtained under duress, torture and coercion and will fail at trial and a clear violation of sections 15(4) and 17(1) & (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 (“ACJA“). A confessional statement must be voluntary, devoid of threat, or fear of threat & any form of coercion or duress. The defendant will most likely walk free in the absence of other corroborative evidence at trial.”
However, other Nigerians who reacted to his line of thought, disagreed with Adeyanju, saying a murder suspect deserves such beatings. Others aligned with the human rights activist.
A Facebook user, Olabanji Olaleye, “This is not torture, the officers were only moved by emotions. Wondering why a son will use his own hands to kill his own mother. Hence, they couldn’t help slapping and slapping the guy.”
Oluwakorede Obafemi said, “Adeyanju, calm down, you of all people should not cast aspersion on the investigations because of their approach but the story line please.”
For James Daniel, “All this slap are from emotions. Anyone that can kill his mother is already needing help. Actually, following due process, those slaps coming from those locals were not justice at all neither were they needed. Let the judicial system handle what is needed of them not a jungle justice less it becomes a crime too. Those slap are condemnable as much as his crime if found guilty. I can’t even believe him by his statement again because he is saying two to three different things at a time.”
Adeyanju has therefore advised Nigerians to stop admitting to crimes that they did not commit no matter the level of the pressure or torture by security operatives.
“Stop signing confessional statements and admitting to crimes you did not commit because of police pressure or torture when in custody. If you must admit because torture is too much, ensure you give them wrong personal information, e.g, age, educational qualifications like schools attended, etc about yourself. It will help at trial. SAY NO TO TORTURE!
“You can also use a wrong signature when signing an involuntary confessional statement or put initials after your signature to suggest it was not voluntary like UD or U/D meaning UNDER DURESS or IWT – I Was Tortured, etc.”
