Ogah Ochigbo Jumbo

2019

Abuja

One morning, Ogah Ochigbo Jumbo, an officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), was driving his two kids to school (his wife was also in the car). They were running late. To save time, he made a quick U-turn at a wrong spot.

Idoko Sunday and Katdel Dabit were the two police officers on duty in that area. They stopped him, Jumbo pleaded. They insisted that members of the NCSDC were in the habit of breaking traffic rules and they were going to make a scapegoat out of him. One of the officers sat on the bonnet of Jumbo’s car, the other started hitting him with a baton. He begged, he cried. His wife and children pleaded for them to stop.

The officers drove Jumbo to their police station where the beating continued until he died. He was confirmed dead at the Asokoro District Hospital, Abuja. The initial claim by the officers that Jumbo slumped and died in the station was dismissed by an autopsy which showed that he died as a result of “blunt force injury to the head and cerebral oedema.”

Jumbo’s brother, Desmond Jumbo tells me the police force has not shown any interest in the case, no participation in burial expenses. The family is still fighting for justice.

Killer police officers: Idoko Sunday and Katdel Dabit