Policemen beat up, rupture churchgoer’s Intestine. .

Policemen beat up, rupture churchgoer’s
Intestine.
.
A 200-level university student, John Ekefre, was

recently attacked by policemen from the Iponri
division, while he was on his way to Church.
.
These policement tortured him and damaged his
intestine. He had to be rushed to the Lagos state
teaching hospital after the attack.
He was said to have been operated on to rectify the
internal injury and to remove “the blood clots” that
blocked his chest as a result of the torture.
.
His elder sister, Mercy Ekefre, told PUNCH, who
visited LASUTH on Tuesday that the family had spent
over N200,000 on John’s treatment.
.
“The doctor said his intestine was ruptured and
that he had a blood clot. He had a surgery and we
are still awaiting the medical report,” she added.
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It was learnt that John, an appendicitis patient who
works in a cinema house in Surulere, and four other
friends were going for a church programme tagged,
The Experience, organised by the House on the Rock
at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos Island, after they
had closed from work around 11pm on Friday,
December 4.
John and Anthony Kenkwo, a graduate of a university
in Imo State, had waited for three other colleagues,
Michael Peter, Godwin Ekeji and Joy Imoh on the
fateful day so that they could go for the programme
in a group.
.
It was said that on getting to the Costain area, the
vehicle that the young men boarded ran into
gridlock and they decided to alight from the
commercial bus.
.
PUNCH Metro gathered that they were walking by
the roadside when they were arrested by the
policemen, who accused them of robbery.
John, 22, said he and his friends showed the cops
their identity cards, but were rebuffed. He said the
policemen beat him to a coma when he demanded
to know what their offence was.
.
He said:
“I work at a cinema in Surulere. We were on
afternoon duty that fateful Friday. We closed around
11pm and left for TBS to attend a church
programme – The Experience 10.
.
“When we got to Costain, we alighted from the bus
we boarded because there was gridlock. About five
policemen on patrol stopped us and we told them
we were going to the church. They searched our
bags, but nothing incriminating was found there.
They forced us into their bus. We showed them our
identity cards, but they ignored us.
.
“On our way to the station, I asked them what our
offence was and they said we were highway robbers.
When we got to the station, they dragged me down,
beat me up and one of them hit me in the stomach
with the butt of his gun.
.
“They said I was too inquisitive. The following day,
they collected N6,000 from my brother before I was
released.”
Kenkwo said a policeman pummelled him when he
complained that their arrest was not justified. He
said he eventually parted with N5,500 before he was
release.
He said:
.
“It was a bitter experience. Every Friday and
Saturday, we run late night shows. After the close of
work, Ekefre and I waited for three other friends
from Apapa so that we would go to the programme
in a group. The traffic was hectic that night and we
decided to disembark from the bus because the guys
with us looked stern.
I also asked the officer who took my statement
what I did. But he responded with punches. It was
while I was in the cell that I started bleeding from
the nose.
.
They charged me N10,000 for bail. It was after my
brother bargained with them that they collected
N5,500. They collected N5,000 from Godwin (Ekeji’s)
family, but Joy, the only female among us, was
released free.”
.
Peter told PUNCH that the policemen collected
N8,000 before he was released