Mystery: Are the seven rogue policemen killed by SARs in Delta, after suspected assassin police invaded Warri NUJ office same?

…As serial denial from all angles and Police formations points to cover ups and something really sinister

By Steve Seigha, Warri

Tongues are still seriously wagging over the circumstances that led to the death of seven policemen in Delta State during a shootout with men of Delta Anti Robbery Operators popularly called SARSS, in Ughelli, Delta state on the 18th of June, 2020.

Daily Watch painstaking Investigations confirmed that before the horrible and shameful killing of the serving police officers who were said to be on illicit gun deal, armed robbery and operating at different locations in Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers state. These same men had  been suspected to be same rogue officers that had  raided the Warri NUJ office looking for Daily Watch Publisher and eventually arresting and detaining seven Journalists with the Police Area Command in Warri.

Investigations Confirmed that on the 26th of May some assassins/rogue policemen invaded the office of the Nigerian Union of journalists (NUJ) and arrested about seven journalists, Matthew Omonigho of Daily Post, Francis Sadhere of BusinessDay, Meluwa  of Punch, Christopher Odamah of Delta Trumpet and  Edeki Egafi of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and got them detained at the police cell at Warri Area Commander office.

The detained journalists after diligent investigations were confirmed not to be the actual target for the raid, as the prime target  that necessitate the very violent raid of the NUJ office  was no other than the Publisher of Daily Watch Newspaper, Mr. Cletus Opukeme who was  before the raid  on consistent and non-stop threat on phone by the media officer of the Minister of Niger Delta  and supervisory minister of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Senator Godswill Akpabio basically as a result of Daily Watch investigations and  serial expose of large scale of corruption in the intervention agency running to billions of naira.

The Commissioner of Police Delta State Mr. Mohammed Hafiz Inuwa  in his on magnanimity eventually ordered for the  release of the detained journalists, on the ground that there was no directive to arrest any journalist from the office of the Inspector General of police in Delta state, as he would  have been briefed if there was via signals from Abuja.

On the 27th of  May, 2020, the aggrieved Warri practicing journalists carried out a peaceful protest  carrying placards to the office of the Warri Area Commander and demanded to know the real reason for  harassment, humiliation, arrest and dumping in a cell of reputable Journalists like common criminals.

But to the astonishment of the aggrieved journalists, the Warri Police Area commander Mr. Mohammed Garba  was not fort coming but rather in a shocking demonstration of remorse  pleaded with hands on his chest and confirmed that the policemen who claimed they came from Inspector General’s office  had disappeared into the thin air and not traceable, that he could not speak for  or on behalf of the strange policemen who used his station as a transit point for most suspected criminal. He pleaded with the aggrieved journalists to save his job by not reporting the incidence to the public and allow the issue to die a natural death.

The Journalist Mr. Cletus Opukeme, a UK trained investigative journalist and Niger Delta fearless rights activists  for whom the policemen came for had fearlessly accused Senator Goodwill Akpabio in a press Statement  of being the brain behind the invasion of the NUJ’s office with  suspected hired police assassins to abduct him and do whatever they were instructed to do with him.

The Publisher following threat on his life from the office of the IG  that’s if   the words of the suspected Police Officers  that stormed the Warri NUJ’s Office is to be believed approached  two notable human Rights Niger Delta lawyers  in the persons of Barr. Ikimi Oghenejabor and Barr. Omo- Irabor  both volunteered to defend the fearless publisher and other staffers of Daily Watch in court if there is any need for that.

Not done, some of the aggrieved  journalists  in Warri opted to drag the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu and the Nigeria Police Force over an alleged assault, illegal detention before the State High Court in Otor-Udu, Delta state.

The journalists filed separate suits with suit numbers: OUHC/FHR/85/2020, OUHC/FHR/86/2020, and OUHC/FHR/87/2020, demanding the Court to grant them ten million naira (N10,000,000.00) only as damages by the respondents.

This development was disclosed in a press release made available to newsmen in Warri, Delta State by the Executive Director of Centre for the Vulnerable and the Underprivileged, (CENTREP), Barr. Oghenejabor Ikimi, Esq, who said the illegal detention and assault of the journalists breached their fundamental rights to freedom from inhuman treatment, right to liberty and right to private and family life as guaranteed by Sections 34(1), 35(1) and 37 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

It would be noted that the Nigeria Police Force under the Inspector General of Police had arrested and detained five journalists picked from  the Press Centre of the Warri Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists. The journalists were: Matthew Omonigho; Daily Post Online Correspondent,

Onyekachukwu Meluwa; Punch Correspondent, Christopher Odamah; Delta Trumpet Correspondent,

Edeki Igafe; NAN Correspondent, and

Francis Sadhere; Business Day Correspondent.

Barr. Ikimi said the journalists dragged the Inspector General of Police following the refusal of the Police High Command to render a public apology.

The statement reads, “Matthew Omonigho (Daily Post Online Correspondent), Onyekachukwu Meluwa (Punch Correspondent), Christopher Odamah (Delta Trumpet Correspondent),

Edeki Igafe (NAN Correspondent) and

Francis Sadhere (Business Day Correspondent) were arrested and detained at the Police Area Command, Warri from 4:30pm to 12 midnight by Men of the IGP Monitoring Unit, Abuja led by one Detective Rueben Noah without any formal charge and in lieu of one of their colleague for no just cause.

“Pursuant to the intervention of the Delta State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Inuwa Hafiz and others, the said five journalists were released on administrative bail at about 12 midnight same day.

“Owing to the above development, the Centre for the vulnerable and the underprivileged Centrep took special interest in the case of the above journalists and did a up to  the Inspector General of Police on the issue, demanding a public apology to be rendered forthwith by the Police High Command to the said journalists, but same was to no avail.

“Following the refusal of the Police High Command to render a public apology to the said journalists, Centrep filed the under  mentioned fundamental rights Suits on behalf of some of the journalists at the Delta State High Court, Otor-Udu.

The Suits are as follows:

1) OUHC/FHR/85/2020 MR. ONYEKACHUKWU MELUWA VS. INSPECTOR

GENERAL OF POLICE & 2 ORS.

2) OUHC/FHR/86/2020 MR. MATTHEW OMONIGHO VS. INSPECTOR

GENERAL OF POLICE & 2 ORS.

3) OUHC/FHR/87/2020 MR. CHRISTOPHER ODAMAH VS. INSPECTOR

GENERAL OF POLICE & 2 ORS.

“A Declaration that the assault, beatings and arrest of the Applicant by the Respondents on Tuesday, the 26th day of May, 2020 at the Press Centre of the Warri Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Warri and the subsequent detention of the Applicant by the Respondents from 4:30pm till 12 midnight in their cell at the Respondents Police Area Command Office, Warri in lieu of a colleague and/or without any formal charge is a violation of the Applicants fundamental rights to freedom from inhuman treatment, right to liberty and right to private and family life as guaranteed by Sections 34(1), 35(1) and 37 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

“An Order of this Honourable Court directing the Respondents to render an unreserved apology to the Applicant in three National Dailies i.e. the Vanguard Newspaper, the Nation Newspaper and Daily Post Newspaper respectively.

“The sum of N10,000,000.00 (Ten million naira) as damages against the Respondents jointly and severally over their above unconstitutional acts.

“AND for such further Order or other Orders as this Honorable Court may deem fit to make in the circumstances”, it stated

This ignoble action of the police also attracted global journalism organizations, including Committee of Protection of Journalists (CPJ) UK, International Press Council based in US and other numerous rights NGOs who strongly also condemned the attack of  journalists and invasion of NUJ office by members of the Nigerian Police force.

But the Police authorities in Abuja at the office of the Inspector General Mohammed Adamu had openly debunked  the allegation, stating that his office is not aware and not part of arrest of any publisher or Journalists  in Warri, Delta state.

Shockingly, on the 17th of June, 2020, the bad and the good news broke out that  seven policemen from Bayelsa state  on illegal mission to Delta state  met their waterloo as men of the special anti-robbery squad engaged them in cross fire  killing the suspected police robbery gang.

The seven policemen  who were reportedly shot dead during a gun battle with operatives of the Delta State Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) nd to which the Delta,Bayelsa and even Inspector General Office have refused to comment on are named below.

Though the Bayelsa State Command refused to make official statement on the development, sources within the police confirmed that the incident occurred at night .

The Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police, Nkereuwem Akpan in a recent interview with TUV during a press briefing denied the killed policemen, stating  that he had not received dead or missing police in any of his divisions by the Divisional Police officers in the state but assured journalists that the police would investigate the matter.

But Daily Watch investigations and combing of Bayelsa confirmed that the Bayelsa Police Command Police reportedly, truly and secretly led  a team of officers to the Delta State Command to retrieve the bodies of the seven  killed policemen and riffles belonging to the Nigerian police.

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Daily watch Sources in Bayelsa Police headquarters confirmed that the ranks of the  dead policemen range from sergeant to corporal.

“The reported killing of the seven policemen in the shootout in Delta State is causing uproar at the command,” the source said.

“They were reported to have been engaging in armed robbery when they engaged the Delta Special Anti-robbery Squad in a shootout. They were all killed.”

The Commissioner of Police, Delta State, Hafiz Inuwa, said he was not aware of the development.

But another source from the Bayelsa police command,  who spoke anonymously, confirmed the development, saying the incident happened at Ughelli.

Daily Watch investigation reliably got the identities, private cell phone numbers and/attachment duty posts of the dead policemen in Delta as real Nigerian policemen, although were on illegal mission in Delta state.

The questions on the lips many  Deltans and Nigerian is, what actually was their  mission in Delta state? We gathered  from highly reliable Sources that an ex-militant leader in Bayelsa state who is an associate and heads Akpabio’s hit squard ( name withheld)most times hired them (Killed Cops) to carry out planned dirty jobs one of which was failed hit on  the fearless Daily Watch publisher who has gone to the creek since his life was on the line in his professional calling as a journalist exposing corrupt politicians in the country, particularly NDDC.

Below are the photos and names of some of policemen killed by SARs on illicit mission  in Ughelli, Delta state.

Sgt Hilter Mumboh 07067424398 attached to B ops state headquarters,2 SGT Brown Abedinogo 07066113007 B Ops SGT Phillip seikpo B ops 4 CPL Omoro Akpoebi B Ops ,they are  all attached to different politicians, 5 SGT Diyetei Joweigha 080545522831attached to Mopol 30 squadron Yenagoa Bayelsa state command 6 SGT Oyindini Odongha attached to Mopol 30 Yenagoa Bayelsa state command.

Daily Watch investigations confirmed that the notorious Police robbers gang  leader, Corporal Omoro Akpoebi is from  Burutu LGA of Delta State and at one time was a notorious sea pirate and kidnapper who joined the Nigerian Police in few years back but continued his criminal activities inside the Nigerian police force. He is a black sheep in the Nigerian Police who recruited other gang members that were engaged in kidnapping, armed robbery, gunrunning, assassins, debt collectors and other illicit activities. We learnt that the robber police squad had their own private cell where he acts as  DPO to handle cases and got bail fees from the unsuspecting public who might have engaged in similar criminal activities like them.

That the rogue police lived a lavished life pattern with expensive cars and highly furnished accommodations with the best sets of modern  home theatres like oil company staff, as they attend night clubs with expensive runs girls to the admiration of youths like them who envied to join the Nigerian police.

When Daily Watch place a call to the Warri Area commander Mr. Mohammed Garba to confirm the identity of the alleged Abuja IG police  who came to Warri   to arrest journalists and if they are of semblance with the seven rogue cops killed . His action was not condemnable as he shouted our reporter never to call him again in respect of the very incident, claiming that he had no hand in the arrest of the journalists as the police only used his station as a transit point.

What Daily Watch is directing to the Warri Police Area commander who refused to answer questions in connection with the fake police from IG office is if the police has no set standard to provide a filings or register for police from outside or from headquarter to use police stations to detain suspects? Could anybody or group of individuals who wear police uniform and identify themselves as police from Asaba or Abuja  use his station to detain suspect? These are some of the questions Daily Watch Newspaper wanted the naive Warri Area Commander Mr. Mohammed Garb to give clarification to before his shocking out burst.

While commenting on the killed seven policemen from Bayelsa state by SARs in Ughelli Delta state, the hunted and fugitive journalist who is also the publisher of Daily  Watch , Mr. Cletus Opukeme, said ” I was running for my dear life for fear of these Akpabio’s killers policemen who came to abduct me on the 26th of May, 2020 at the office of the Nigerian Union of journalists. These are some of his paid boys  sent to kill me. Akpabio paid a lot of bad squads to hunt me down, both ex-militants in Warri, cultists and those policemen who were killed by SARs seemed to be among those that came for me too. The government could not question Senator Akpabio despite my allegation against him. Akpabio too didn’t debunk my allegation because he knew I was not lying. I am not a Church man. But I have a big God, bigger than Senator God’s will Akpabio and his assassin policemen and ex-militants in Bayelsa and Delta. Some confessed to me in Warri how Akpabio had contracted them to kill me. They warned me to leave Akpabio and my newspaper. I told them that I was doing my legitimate journalism job and that I would  not take permission from them to do my job” he said.

SOURCE: DAILY WATCH

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