The autopsy report of late Rivers State mechanic, Chima Ikwunado, has been released.
Ikwunado and his apprentices, Victor Ogbonna, Osaze Friday, Ifeanyi Osuji and Ifeanyi Onyekwere were arrested on December 19, 2019 for driving against traffic and tortured at Mile 1 Police Station by one SP Benson Adetuyi.
At the point of arrest, the policemen took N93,000 found on Ikwunado and remanded him on allegations of car theft.
In detention, he alongside others were tortured in the most brutal manner in spite a confirmation by owner of the vehicle that the car was not stolen and that Ikwunado was his mechanic only taking the car for a test-run after routine repair.
The late mechanic, who could not bear the pain inflicted on him by the police in detention, died on December 29, 2019, after which his counterparts were charged to court and remanded in January 2020 but were released days later following the directive of the state’s Department of Public Prosecutions.
A family of the deceased told SaharaReporters that the Rivers State Police Command on Friday released the autopsy report to them and it confirmed he died of torture.
“There are also multiple discrete superficial burn injuries located mostly on the back, 1.2 -1.5 cm in diameter, circular to oval shaped, involving over two third of the area of the back, with crusted edges and necrotic floor. There are multiple septic foci identified on the body (1). Right knee joint, extending into the right ankle joint (2) Left ankle (with open wound) (3) Right shoulder area, extending to the upper half of the arm.
“The internal examination shows generalised and severe organ palor, and extensive haeemorrhage into soft tissues underlying the injuries seen on the skin.
“There is cerebral edema with moderate grooving of the cerebella tonsils. Causes of deaths in my opinion; haemorrhagic shock secondary to multiple severe soft tissue trauma with extensive haemorrhage (into the soft tissue),” the report signed by Dr Musa Itopa Stephen and Dr Cornell Chukwuegbo, read.
DOCUMENTS: Autopsy Report of Rivers Auto Repairer, Chima Ikwunado, Tortured to Death by Police Released by Sahara Reporters on Scribd
