Posted by 9jabook.com on October 19, 2009 at 8:55pm
Ordinarily, it is supposed to be a symbol of law and order where crack detectives of the Nigeria Police Force ply their trade with finesse and professional dexterity, unlocking the key to several knotty criminal cases with scientific precision.
Onovo, IGP
The difference, however, is that the victims are no longer cows, sheep and goats, but human beings who though, are not slaughtered in the true sense of it, but are made to pass through the valley of death.
Welcome to the torture chambers for operatives of the dreaded Special Anti-Robbery Squad [SARS] of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command, where extra-ordinary and weird practices allegedly reign supreme. Here, President Umaru Yar’Adua’s rule of law is alien and consumed by rule of the jackboot, and the operatives, menacingly dangling sophisticated firearms almost round the clock, are the kings of the jungle. Reports indicated that in this kingdom, there is a queen in the form of a female statute before whom suspects brought in must pay homage and give a deep kiss as a first step in the process of baptism into the “kingdom of hell”.
Expectedly, it’s a frightening tale of pains, agony and sorrow as several residents of the FCT who have the misfortune of being guests at the SARS operational base in Abuja , recounted their experiences. As suspects, each had been taken into custody at separate intervals and days over alleged criminal and sundry offences. But at the end of the energy and blood sapping grilling sessions in the interrogation process, those who are lucky to come out alive from the alleged torture chambers are united in their experiences: A miraculous escape from “Abuja House of Horror”.
Among the latest victims is Mr. James Onu Chukwudi, 28, an indigene of Ebonyi State, who returned to Nigeria about two months ago, after a sojourn in China . A 2005 Political Science graduate of the University of Lagos , Chudi, as he is fondly called, was a guest of the SARS men about two weeks ago for just a period of eight hours. But like a scar which had defied all remedies to smoothen, he says images of his experience in the hands of his “captors” would remain indelible in his mind for ever:
JOURNEY TO THE GULAG
“I came back to Nigeria from China on August 2, 2009. This Eco Solar Gem in China , they are into solar energy. So I have been going from one conference to another to tell them the advantage of solar energy. On getting to Lamonde Hotel at Area 11 in Garki two weeks ago, but I don’t really know the exact date. I went there to submit a proposal about the solar energy. I met and discussed with the man I saw there, one of the receptionists. I asked him if they would be interested in solar. He said I should come back later, that I should just drop the proposal.
Thereafter, I went into their supermarket in the hotel and bought a recharge card of N1,500. I gave him N2000, and he gave me N500 as balance. Then, I left the hotel. After about two hours, he called me and said I should come back to the hotel, that the woman in charge of the hotel has accepted my proposal and that I should come and negotiate with her. On getting there, the chief security officer and other guys surrounded me. They said out of the N2000 I used in paying the recharge card, N1000 note is fake. I said how? I was really embarrassed because I went there with my friend who is a PA to a member of the House of Assembly, Darlington Okereke. I told them I don’t know anything about it. God knows that I don’t know. I told them I don’t know anything about the N1000 note that is not genuine. Before you know it, they took me to their security room and then called the guys from SARS who came with their Hillux van and took me to their base at former abattoir, near Area One.MERMAID AS FIRST LADY
I was kind of scared when we got there. Those guys, young boys, were well armed. And the most difficult people to deal with are people that are not reasonable. I tried to explain to them that I don’t know anything about the fake money. If I had known about it, if it was intentional, I wouldn’t have come back when called upon after leaving the hotel. I had submitted a proposal that contained my name, address, phone number, e-mail, and website. But despite all my explanation, they said I should put it down in writing. So I did.
One remarkable thing is that immediately I arrived at the SARS office, the place was scary. There is this statute that looked like a mermaid. They tied a red cloth on the head like a scarf, and they painted her lips. When you are walking into the office, it is just at the corridor, close to the doorpost to their torture room. The place it seemed was an abattoir where they slaughtered cow. And there is this big iron door through which you enter the torture room. This scarystatute is hung by the door. I can’t remember the exact date, but I think it was the day Nigeria played Venezuala and we lost 1-0, because there is a TV there and they were showing the Venezuala match.
Immediately we arrived at the office and I walked through that place to the interrogation room, one of them just slapped me. He said “are you stupid, don’t you see our first lady there? That is how they describe that statute. They said I should go back and salute her, so I had to go back and salute her. They said I should kiss her. I had to kiss her before I was ushered in. And because I had not been to a police station before in my life, the picture they painted was scary. So they were threatening me. One of them, one arrogant guy who can barely speak English Language, the guy slapped me and said I should tell them Ok, that we’ve been minting money and all that. I said I don’t know anything about it and God knows I don’t know.
Being outside the country is not a big deal, because I should know our currency. But this thing they are talking about, I don’t know. The guy said I should pull off my shoe. I pulled my shoe. Then he said I should pull my shirt. I pulled my shirt. He now pointed at my tummy and said this big belly, you’ve been stealing money and all sorts of assault. But then, I had to call my wife on phone and asked her to bring some money. One of them actually sold the idea to me. He said ah, these people will kill you o; you have to give them something. And because they seized my two phones, I said Ok, I actually used his phone to call my wife and asked her to bring some money. When she came, I gave them N5,000, for them not to put me inside the cell. That N5,000 was just for me to stay at the counter. I stayed there and after putting down my statement, those guys who brought me left.
HORROR
One thing that surprised me was that after sometime, they brought about 10 young guys. They said whether they were fighting or something else. Maybe, they had respected me a bit because I was putting on suit. But the way they handled those guys, I have never seen that type of maltreatment. Even if they were confirmed armed robbers, I haven’t seen that kind of maltreatment. They stripped them; they were beating them. There is this place that probably served as drainage when they were using that SARS office as abattoir. Water constantly flows there. These boys were asked to lie down there, and they were telling them “fuck the water, fuck the water”. Again, they said “if you can’t fuck the water, show him how to fuck”. And while they were doing that, they were beating them. I said, oh my God, what is going on here.
I was shocked because I used to see Abuja as a decent and lawful place unlike Lagos which I usually call madness. I used to think that Abuja is more serene and the police are civil. I never knew things like that also happen in this kind of place. One of the SARS guys [name withheld by us], this guy is a good guy. He is not among the guys that brought me, but he works there. He is a good guy. He didn’t like what was going on there. There was this other suspect who was brought in there because he sold goods on credit or something like that and his employer brought him there.
So, this guy was not happy with what was happening. He was saying this kind of cases, you don’t bring them here [SARS]. He said this is madness. He was one of the officers at the counter that night. And I was also kept at the counter. That was how I had the opportunity to interact with him. It’s like this guy was on a special duty there, because if he was part of the system, he would have been used to it. But it was apparent he wasn’t because he didn’t like the whole thing happening there. I told him the only way this thing can stop is to reach out to probably The Sun newspapers because of the detailed investigative stories. He said yes and even promised to be of assistance. And that was how I contacted The Sun.
I REGAINED FREEDOM AFTER PARTING WITH N20,000
I was arrested from Lamonde Hotel at about 6.30pm on that fateful day and was detained at SARS till well over midnight before I was released. We had to wait for those that took me there with their Hilux van. When my wife came, we waited until when they returned, they said I should give them N15,000. I gave them the N15,000 because I didn’t want to sleep there. But then, there was a guy I was using his phone apart from the first officer [name withheld] and I had promised I was going to buy him recharge card to replenish the one I used with his phone.
When those guys returned, I had given this guy N1000 for the recharge card and gave them the balance of N14,000. But after counting the money, they said it was not up to N15,000, that it was N14,000. I pleaded with them to allow me go home, that even if it meant depositing my two GSM handsets, I would do so and come back to collect it the next day with the balance of N1000. One of them just shouted at me that I wasn’t serious and slammed the door at me. So, I had to beg this other guy whom I had given N1000 for recharge card, to give the money back to me. He agreed and I had to send my wife to go and get the N1000 from him. That was how I regained my freedom.
At the Lamonde Hotel, while I was being held at the security post before they invited the police, I was begging the chief security officer, pleading that I am innocent of the allegation. That I knew nothing about the fake money. Since they said N1000 out of the N2000 I used to pay for the recharge card I bought is fake, I even gave additional N2000 to the guy who sold the card to me. Yet, the CSO still called in the SARS people. Last Saturday, I was in a taxi on my way to Gwarimpa and the driver was telling me something that further aroused my curiosity. The taxi man said he had just dropped off a lawyer at that SARS office and that the lawyer was complaining about the way they are handling his client. And what is the offence of his client? It is because he did a contract and he owed somebody N2million. He has paid N1.7million out of the amount and it is just remaining N300,000. The lawyer was wandering how somebody could be taken to SARS because of a mere debt which is civil. I told the taxi driver that same place, I’ve been there and it wasn’t pleasant. It’s not just me, people are talking about that place and something has to be done. It is a House of Horror”.
Is the Abuja SARS office really a satanic den where the absurd holds sway as being alleged? Jimoh Moshood, a Deputy Superintendent of Police [DSP] and spokesman of the FCT police command would not be drawn into such a conclusion. But he simply pleaded for any of the victims to come forward to his office and share their experiences with him to enable the police to investigate and fish out those involved.
“I cannot comment on those allegations without investigations. Please tell the man from whom N15,000 was allegedly taken as bribe and all others with complaints to come to my office so that we can investigate and find out those involved. Tell him to come to the PPRO’s office to see me. I would be waiting to see him”, he assured in a telephone chat with Daily Sun, when contacted for comments on Chudi’s horrible tale.
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