Femi Bello

2014

Written by Femi Bello’s sister, Funmi Ajare

Mararaba, Nasarrawa State

“Femi Bello was a 300 level student of Economics in Kaduna State University. He had just finished his 2nd Semester exams with the hope of proceeding to his final year, graduating and supporting his mum in Abuja, who had just lost her husband some 4 months before then, after a protracted illness.

Femi whilst visiting a friend’s house in Mararaba, Nasarawa State at about 4pm on December 4th, 2014, a Golf Volkswagen car suddenly parked in front of them and some men, numbering 8, came out and arrested Femi, his host and about 7 other friends. They were handcuffed and taken to the Mararaba Police Station.

The mum and siblings who had waited for Femi the whole day, unaware of his arrest, started getting worried and made several efforts to reach him but to no avail, as his phone was switched off. Eventually they got some information on the evening of Sunday 7th December, of his arrest and detention. His younger brother, Biodun, went to the Police station to confirm this story and the Police officers confirmed his arrest, but advised him to come back the next morning before 10am as Femi’s case was being transferred to the State CID at Lafia, Nasarawa State. He requested to see his brother but this request was turned down. Biodun saw shoes and other personal effects he knew specifically belonged to his brother.

By the next morning, based on the little information obtained the night before, Biodun went in company of a lawyer, to the Police station with the hope that they could secure his release or, at least, further information about the nature of the offence for which Femi was being held.

When the lawyer got to the counter as is the practice, and asked to see Femi, he was first told that Femi was not in their cell, but he was referred to the crime office, where he met one Adamu who directed him to see the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), SP John Omege. The DPO in a very dramatic manner, however, informed Barr. Napon that Femi was dead in vernacular “him don die”. Biodun, unable to bear the news, broke down in uncontrollable tears. The DPO further informed them that Femi was arrested and confessed to supplying guns to robbers, but that while he was taking them to the location of his guns, he jumped off a moving vehicle and died.

The lawyer then requested to see the corpse in order to ascertain that the deceased was indeed the Femi Bello they seek before breaking the news to his mother (especially considering that the character of the Femi Bello they knew was inconsistent with that of a gun runner, but he refused and asked that they should go to the State CID in Lafia where the case was being transferred to.

The next day, a couple of lawyers went to the State CID in Lafia, but they were sent off by the OC SARS with threats that Femi Bello was an armed robber and that he was shot and killed during a robbery operation and if they anyone comes to make enquiries about him, they would assume that the person is an accomplice and they would shoot that person as well.

When the story of Femi Bello’s case broke out, the Nasarawa State Governor, Al- Makura waded into the matter and prevailed on the police to release the corpse to the family. The family strongly believes that Femi was arrested on trumped up suspicions and was tortured to death while trying to secure a confession. Their fears are based on the contradictions in the stories of his death as told by the DPO and the OC SARS as well as the determined and persistent refusal of the Police to permit the family to sight the corpse suggestive of a grand design to cover up the extra-judicial killing of Femi Bello by the Police.

Thus, the family instructed that an inquest be held. The matter is currently before a coroner and an inquest is on-going in the matter of the death of Femi Bello in police custody. Unfortunately, the industrial action by Judicial staff in Nigeria stalled the process between January to June 2015.

Immediately upon the resumption of work by the judicial staff in Nassarawa State, we applied for and obtained an order of the court to carry out a post-mortem examination/autopsy on the corpse in a government hospital and thereafter to proceed to bury the corpse. The autopsy was done on Friday 3rd July, 2015 and the corpse was buried on Saturday 4th July, 2015.

The coroner sat again on Monday August 10th, on which day the report of the post-mortem examination/autopsy was supposed to be presented to the coroner, but the autopsy report was not ready and the matter was therefore adjourned and to resume when the report is ready.

Meanwhile since the inquest commenced, the police have only sent representation once out of about five times that the coroner has sat.”