A family is asking for justice after a mobile police officer allegedly beat their sister, who is a sickler, to death.
Ramota Okunola, a mother of three (two girls and a boy), died on Monday, November 25, 2019, and her family blames her death on their neighbour, a mobile police officer named Stephen Iwebuka.
According to members of the deceased’s family who reached out to LIB, Ramota got into a fight with Stephen Iwebuka’s wife on Saturday, November 23, at their residence at no. 40 Odeogbolu street, Ketu, Lagos.
During the fight, Ramota bit the lips of the wife of the mobile police officer. The police officer’s wife was rushed to the hospital and was treated.
When Stephen Iwebuka returned home to hear that his wife had been bitten, he arrested Ramota and took her to Alapere police station where she was detained on Saturday 23rd and released on Sunday 24th after her husband paid N3,000 for the bail.
However, when Ramota got back to the compound, the landlord wouldn’t let her in. Relatives of the deceased, who spoke to LIB, said this was based on the respect the others in the compound have for the mobile police officer because of his job.
The sisters of the deceased pleaded with the landlord and Ramota was later allowed into the compound.
The brother of the deceased claims the wife of the mobile police officer had warned that there will be trouble if her husband returns to find Ramota in the compound.
On Monday, November 25, Stephen Iwebuka, who had been away from home, returned to find that Ramota had been allowed into the compound. He then allegedly attacked her and flogged her until she became unconscious. The husband had tried placing himself between his wife and the police officer but he wasn’t successful.
When Ramota lost consciousness from the beating, she was rushed to the hospital by her husband but she died on the way.
Stephen Iwebuka reportedly took his family and vanished from the compound after Ramota’s death. However, on Wednesday, November 27, he presented himself to the Alapere police station.
The case was transferred to Panti police station on Thursday, November 28, and Stephen Iwebuka was also transferred there. However, when the husband of the deceased went to Panti, he was also arrested and detained.
The family of the deceased claims that Stephen Iwebuka was released from Panti on Friday, November 29 after a police officer, who is his superior, intervened. However, the deceased’s husband was still in detention.
The husband of the deceased was eventually released later on Friday night after he had been threatened to change his statement, the family of the deceased say.
Now, Ramota’s family fear the case is about to be swept under the rug because Stephen Iwebuka is a police officer. They claim all the neighbours who witnessed Stephen Iwebuka beating Ramota have now changed their story.
Ramota has been buried according to Islamic law but her family said those who washed her body before she was buried admitted that they saw marks on her breasts, showing she had been flogged.
The family of the deceased admitted that Ramota did wrong by bitting the officer’s wife during their fight but they said she apologized. They added that officer Stephen Iwebuka knew that Ramota is a sickler, considering that he had helped drive her to the hospital when she was having a crisis, yet he was violent with her in a manner that her poor health couldn’t carry.
They revealed that the husband of the deceased and Stephen Iwebuka have been asked to report back to Panti police station on Wednesday but they suspect justice will not be served.
