The
family of a former finance minister, Nenadi Usman, has written the Inspector-General
of Police, Ibrahim Idris, over what it termed the cold murder of 31-year-old
Anita Akapson, the daughter of the former minister.
In
a petition signed by the lawyer to the family, Kayode Ajulo, the Usmans alleged
that the Akapson “was trailed, targeted, intercepted, her vehicle brushed,
blocked and shot at close range by a police officer at Katampe District,
Abuja.”
It
had been reported that the woman, who recently returned to the country after
her university education in the United Kingdom, was driving out of her house at
Katampe Extension by Gwarimpa Estate in a Honda Accord car when she was shot
dead by a Superintendent of Police around 11 pm on Saturday.
The
SP, whose name was not given by the police was said to have mistaken her for a
suspected car thief.
The
force spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, said in a statement in Abuja on Monday, that
the IG had ordered that the policemen be detained and also asked the
Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, to carry out a
thorough investigation into the incident.
Punch correspondent gathered that the police team had earlier arrested two suspects
who were attempting to steal a car around the victim’s neighbourhood.
The
thieves were said to have demobilised the car and were about driving away when
policemen arrested them, but one of them reportedly scaled the fence into
Akapson’s compound.
The
policemen were said to have surrounded the building and were lying in wait for
the fleeing suspect when the woman drove out of the compound.
“The
SP fired at the car thinking it was the suspect that was driving out and the
woman was hit by bullets. She was rushed to Gwarimpa General Hospital where she
died,” a senior police officer said.
But
the family said Akapson was shot in the stomach after the police blocked her
car and punctured the tyres with several bullets.
The
lawyer to the family, Ajulo, in the petition demanded a thorough investigation
into the killing, stating that Akapson’s murderers were being shielded by the
police authorities.
Ajulo
hinted that Usman was apprehensive that the murder might have political
undertones on account of her position as a member of the leading opposition
party in the country.
The
petition read in part, “The circumstances of the trailing, tracking and
gruesome murder of the deceased who had a strong affinity with Senator Nenadi
Usman, a member of the leading opposition political party in Nigeria, and who
is presently facing continuous prosecutions from the state, calls for thorough
and comprehensive investigation.”
“Given
the level of intimidation of opposition by the instrumentalities of the state,
our clients are worried as to the intent or possible calculated assassination
of the deceased to further cause anguish to the family.”
-
Punch
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