Eleven policemen attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Cross River State Police Command have been dismissed from service after an orderly room trial found them guilty of extra judicial killing.
The 11 dismissed policemen and three senior officers (names withheld) were indicted for the extra judicial killing of a 300-level student in the Department of Accounting, University of Calabar, Derek Maurice-Enang, and five others.
The slain student and five others were killed on April 17, 2014 in an alleged gun duel with the police at Akpabuyo Local Government Area of the state. Their cadaver was sold to the Anatomy Department of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital for N11, 000 each.
But a top police source at the Zone Six Police Command, who disclosed the news of their dismissal, said after the trial there was no evidence linking those killed to allegations of robbery.
He said, “The judgment has been handed down on them. Throughout the trial, there was no evidence linking the people that were killed to allegations of robbery by the detained policemen against the deceased. It was clear that the accused policemen are not innocent of the accusations. They are all still in detention awaiting their arraignment in Court.”
A committee set up by the outgoing Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone Six, Calabar, Mr. Musa Daura, had indicted the policemen over their involvement in the death of Derek and others.
It was gathered that Daura had on Saturday finally signed their dismissal from the force.
When contacted, the Zone Six Public Relation Officer, Mr. Ibrahim Tasiu, said he had yet to get the details of the dismissal because he had not been in the office in the last two weeks due to ill health.
Also, the Police Public Relations Officer in charge of the Cross River State command, Mr. Hogan Bassey, declined comment on the matter, saying the matter had gone beyond the command.
However, speaking on the development, Derek’s mother, Mrs. Enoh Maurice-Enang, expressed appreciation to the Zone Six Police Command and the Cross River Ministry of Justice for following up the matter.
She was particularly thankful to the outgoing AIG Zone Six, Daura, and the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kola Sodipo for their cooperation and efforts so far, urging them to ensure that the dismissed corps were prosecuted in court.
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