A police officer identified as Inspector Bassey Ikpe has been arrested by the Akwa Ibom State Police Command for allegedly beating a widow, Mrs. Deborah Nkereuwen NKpenie to death.
This was contained in a statement released to newsmen by the Police Public Relations in the state, Odiko Macdon in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom on Wednesday.
Macdon disclosed that the Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, had instructed the Deputy Commissioner, State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID) to carry out thorough investigation into the matter.
Macdon said that the decision of the police to finally look into the alleged murder was informed by the reports in some dailies and online media in the state.
The statement reads in part;
“The attention of the Akwa Ibom State Police Command has been drawn to a publication in some dailies and online media that a Police personnel attached to the Akwa Ibom State Police Command, one Inspr. Bassey Ikpe reportedly beat up one Mrs. Deborah Nkereuwem Nkpenie to death on Thursday, 16th of January, 2020.
To authenticate this serious allegation, the Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State Police Command, CP Imohimi Edgal has ordered the immediate arrest of the said Inspector. The Commissioner has instructed the Deputy Commissioner, State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) to carry out a thorough investigation into the matter, while reiterating the Command’s commitment to policing with great respect for human rights“.
According to reports, the incident happened on January 16 after the widow now deceased was invited by the policeman who was an Investigating Police Officer (IPO) in an ongoing case.
According to an eyewitness, a sister to the deceased identified as Mrs Mfonobong Peter narrated how the said police man, who is the IPO in an ongoing matter, allegedly barged into the bedroom of the deceased to forcefully dress her up.
She said that the IPO claimed that the deceased was lying about her state of health in order to escape being arraigned in court.
“My late sister was beaten to death by Insp. Bassey Ikpe. He had threatened her repeatedly since this matter came up. My sister had waist pains arising from the dislocation she had while caring for her late husband. This made it difficult for her to move about freely. She had become almost bedridden because of the difficulty in movement. She was highly hypertensive due to the health complications that led to her husband’s death. But this police man refused to heed the advice of the Deputy Commissioner of Police. I don’t know what personal interest he had in the matter.
“He had forced her to come to the police station so that they could appear in court on a fictitious criminal charge, against the advice of the deputy commissioner of police the previous day. He beat my sister to death,” she alleged.
It was later learnt that the deceased was taken to the police by the sister and brother of the widow’s late husband over the property of her late husband.