Late hotel worker, Edeh, buried in Enugu

Late Chibuike Edeh (Punch)

THE remains of the late Chibuike Edeh, a worker with Protea Hotel, Benin, who was reported to have died few days after he was arrested by the police for allegedly stealing N48,000 from a hotel guest, have been buried.

A brother to the deceased, Chibuzo, told Southern City News on Tuesday the late Edeh was buried on Sunday at his hometown in Nomeh, Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State.

He said the body was conveyed from Benin, accompanied by his family members and friends.

Southern City News had on March 17, 2015, reported how the death of the 27-year-old man sparked series of protests by his friends and family members who accused the Nigeria Police of “torturing” him to death in less than 48 hours after he was arrested and taken into police custody.

The aggrieved family had expressed dismay that rather than finding the late man at the Adesuwa Police Division, where he was said to have been taken to after the arrest, they made a shocking discovery of his body at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Ugbowo.

The police had explained that the “suspect” was knocked down by a Toyota Camry car as he tried to escape while leading police officers to recover the stolen money from a fence between the hotel and an NNPC mega filling station along Sapele Road.

Meanwhile the family’s solicitor told our correspondent that a team of policemen had been deployed by the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, to further investigate the matter.

“There were some policemen from Abuja, who said the IG asked them to come and reinvestigate. They are in Benin. I met with them yesterday,” Igbinedion added.

He said the Police Service Commission had yet to reply to the letter sent to it and that the Edehs had concluded plans to drag the three parties in the case to court at the expiration of the 30-day ultimatum.

But the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Stephen Onwochei, said he was not aware of any deployment of police officers for the case.

Onwochei said, “All I know is that, about a week or two now, we have had detachment of policemen from Abuja, both Homicide Section and Terrorism Section. It’s not only because of one specific case but the general security situation, particularly these cult-related matters.