Francis Sadhere, Warri
The family of the first Police corporal, Stanley Etaga, who was slain during the EndSARs protests in Ughelli, Delta state have charged Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to assist them.
A rights group, Conference for the Actualization of Human Right gave the charge in Warri, Delta state, on behalf of the victim’s family, Wednesday.
It demanded that late Etaga be declared the “hero of the Nigeria Police Reform, 2020 at least in Delta state” and a N30 million compensation be paid to the family.
Other demands are scholarships for the deceased four children to university level and employment within the state civil service for the victim’s widow to cater for her children.
National adviser of the group, Comrade Edewor Egedegbe briefed newsmen that efforts to get the Delta State Government to offer the necessary aid, like its Lagos, Anambra and Rivers counterparts, have been unsuccessful.
A letter which was addressed to the governor by the group on behalf of the family, described late Etaga’s case as “sheer murder”.
The letter was signed by Egedegbe and the national secretary, Comr. Atiku Sunday and made available to journalists.
Corporal Stanley Etaga, with force number 504636, served under the Delta State Police Command, ‘A’ Division, Ughelli.
The Urhobo-born native of Assah, Ewu, Ughelli South joined the Police Force on October 17, 2011 and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant seven days after his death on October 8, 2020.
“He was mobbed to death in Ughelli by professed protesters, he was deployed to protect which was the reason he did not pull the trigger, even when it was obvious he was going to die,” the letter stated.
The rights group however, berated the state government for keeping mum, adding that it is a “deliberate insensitivity to the plight of a citizen”.
Speaking on the protest, the group urged the Federal, State and Local governments, as well as the National Assembly leaderships across the country to urgently conduct self appraisal on itself with a view to spontaneously addressing the failures of governments.
Parts of the letter read, “the family have through our office petitioned the state panel on police brutality and extortion whereupon the panel decline jurisdiction on the ground the petition to enforce the right of the slain police officer is outside the scope of the committee/panel.
“To this end therefore, we call on the Delta state Government to treat this case as a special case by reaching out to the family of the Late Sgt. Stanley Etaga with a view to assuaging their pains in damages as her counterpart states of Lagos, Anambra, Rivers and others have demonstrated or on the alternative extend the scope of panel to accommodate cases of murder involving Police officers.
“Be reminded that by fiat, the Lagos State government paid thirty million naira each to deceased policemen who didn’t even hail from the state and in Delta State, a Nigerian Police officer of Delta State origin was killed and Your Excellency is silent denying his family the needed attention.”
