…As activist claims innocent officers are being framed, civilian accomplices remain free
By Egufe Yafugborhi
WARRI—Nearly two weeks since a viral video showed ASP Nuhu Usman executing 28-year-old musician, Oghenemine “Mine” Ogidi at point-blank range in Effurun, Delta State, the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, has admitted three other officers were punished alongside the killer.
But they still won’t say what those officers actually did or whether they did anything at all.
The three inspectors, whose names the Force has conspicuously refused to release (unlike the four paraded in the picture obtained by NDV) were members of the Effurun Area Command Surveillance Team, led by Usman, known locally as Ogbegbe.
Police authorities have repeatedly stated the trio were “dragged and punished” alongside their commander. But according to the video that sparked global outrage, they were not there.
“It was a Sunday,” said Harrison Gwamnishu, the civil society activist who first shared the footage that forced police into action. “They were not even on duty.”
Gwamnishu, who said he now faces threats for exposing the killing, claims the men who accompanied Usman to the Effurun Motor Park were two civilians, neither wearing a uniform nor carrying a badge. The activist has named them as “Efe” and “Godwin.”
“Usman got to the park in the company of two persons to pick up Mine, who had already been held and tied by park authorities,” Gwamnishu told NDV. “These two persons he went there with are not Police officers.”
The activist accused the Force of a cover-up. “The three Inspectors arrested, dismissed, and paraded alongside Usman were not involved in the murder. They were not with him when he shot Mine. So which teammates did the Police arrest? The two civilians seen with Usman are not among those arrested.”
A telling silence
On April 7, Vanguard broke the news of the arrest of a Bayelsa State suspect who allegedly waybilled the pistol found with Mine to Effurun. A second suspect, the commercial driver who delivered the weapon from Yenagoa, has since been arrested as well. Police have yet to publicly confirm either development.
But when Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Anthony Olon Placid, recently updated the public on the case, he appeared to inadvertently support Gwamnishu’s central claim. Placid identified the persons with Usman at the park as “vigilantes,” not police officers.
“The driver who delivered the parcel from Yenagoa as well as two members from the Vigilante Group remain at large,” Placid stated.
Gwamnishu sees this as a disguised confirmation. “The Area Commander, ACP Aliyu Shaba, and his team are fond of handing police t-shirts to civilians to join operations,” he alleged. “Police want to push a false narrative, putting forward Usman and his teammates so they won’t own up to irregularities in this case, from the Area Commander down.”
They’ll have their day in court
A source within the Effurun Area Command defended the decision to arrest the entire team, telling NDV: “The Police officers arrested with Usman were actually not at the park shooting, but because they belong to the same team, they are bound to be held with Ogbegbe. They will have their chance to prove themselves in court.”
However, Gwamnishu is unimpressed, noting: “When trial starts, these teammates should be discharged, acquitted, and reinstated into the Force. They have no case to answer.”
He called on the Nigerian Bar Association and the National Assembly to intervene. “This case may well bring an end to Police excesses,” he said. “Your intervention would matter in seeing justice done.”
The post Justice for Mine: Trust issues as Police hide Ogbegbe’s accomplices’ identity appeared first on Vanguard News.
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