Mr Daniel Kokorifa, an official of the Federal Road Safety Corps, has said his 17-year-old son, Innocent, was murdered in August 2016 by men of the Anti-Vice Unit of the Bayelsa State Police Command.
Kokorifa, attached to the Port Harcourt, Rivers State Command of the FRSC, told the Bayelsa State Judicial Panel of Inquiry
Investigating police brutality and extrajudicial killing that the murder of his son terminated his dream of becoming a lawyer.
He said his son met his untimely death while running an errand for his mother.
Kokorifa, an indigene of Okpotuwari community of the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state, in the petition dated November 4, 2020, through his counsel, E. A. Aluzu, said his son was shot from behind at about 11.30am by one Corporal Vincent Kohamowei without provocation.
Another petitioner, 81-year-old Lucky Amakiri, in his petition before the panel said his grandson, Blessing Amakiri, was shot dead by the men of state police command based on mere suspicion of belonging to a cult in the state.
Amakiri said his grandson, who was 19 years, was shot dead by the men of Ekeki Police Division while on an errand at the former Oyoyo Market in Ovom area of the state capital.
Also dragging the authorities of the Bayelsa and Delta State police commands before the judicial panel were families of two police personnel allegedly shot dead on June 14, 2020 in Ughelli, Delta State by men of the FSARS while on special duty alongside five other policemen.
In their separate petitions, the families of Sergeants Ondogha Oyindineni and Philip Seikpo insisted that the mysterious killing of their children alongside five police officers in Ughelli was suspicious and without any justifiable reasons.
The panel’s Chairman, Justice Young Emmanuel Ogola, adjourned till January 6 and 7, 2021.
