Man kept in SARS custody for over 3 years – Lawyer writes Presidency, IGP, National Assembly

Bernard Ogbu, a 43-year-old Benue indigene, has lamented over his indefinite detention in custody of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Abuja, the country capital.

The 43-year-old man has been kept in SARS custody for over three years without trial or bail.

Barrister Napoleon Otache, an Abuja-based lawyer, has raised the alarm over Ogbu’s continuous detention via a petition to the Presidency, Inspector General of Police, IGP, National Assembly, and the National Human Rights Commission.

Report has it that Ogbu hailed from the Igumale community in Ado Local Government Area of Benue State.

Otache has revealed that the men of the defunct SARS, led by one ASP Felix Onoja, invaded the residence of Ogbu in the New Nyanya area of Nasarawa State on March 3, 2019, and arrested him.

The legal practitioner revealed that the men of the SARS also confiscated Ogbu’s personal belongings during the arrest.

He said the younger sister of Ogbu, Mrs Comfort Ogbu, has alleged that SARS officers were torturing the 43-year-old man.

The aggrieved sister also confessed that Ogbu has appealed to their family to raise the needed money to get him out of detention.

Otache has via a petition dated August 25, 2022, and discovered by The Informant247, said: “In the midnight of March 3, 2019, the operatives of the defunct SARS led by ASP Felix Onoja, broke into Bernard Ogbu’s house at New Nyanya, Nasarawa State, and arrested him.

“The following day, Bernard Ogbu’s sister visited the detention facility of the defunct SARS, and she was referred to meet with ASP FELIX Onoja at the abattoir, Guzape, SARS’ detention centre, Abuja.

“She was only able to exchange greetings with her brother through the keyhole of the detention cell. Bernard Ogbu cried out and pleaded with his sister to look for money to secure his release because he was going through unbearable torture in detention.”

Comfort revealed that when she asked ASP Onoja to tell her what her brother has done to deserve the arrest, he said her brother had committed an offence that needed N5 million to secure his release.

According to the petition, she said: “We have not been allowed to see him since March 4, 2019. Whenever we visited the SARS detention facility to ask for him, the policemen usually chased us away.

“When the SARS was disbanded due to the nationwide protest, we made several attempts to see my brother but to no avail. His wife died last year of depression caused by Ogbu’s continued detention. She left four young children behind.”

Otache said, “My client (referring to Mrs Comfort Ogbu) and her family members have made repeated attempts to even see Ogbu but none yield any efforts to date. The policemen manning the gate usually chase them away after hearing the name of the person they came to see”.

“Also, ASP Onoja has been threatening my client for demanding the whereabouts of her detained brother or the car and any other property seized from his house.

“Based on advice, our client wrote a complaint letter to the current commander of the Intelligence Response Team, but we have not heard anything.”

The lawyer also implored the Presidency, the National Assembly, and the Inspector General of Police to sanitize the force of “bad eggs so as to restore the hope of the Nigerian citizenry in the crime-fighting and prevention mandate of the Police.”