The minister in charge of Gracious and Mercy
Prophetic International Church, Egbeda, Lagos State,
Pastor Ejimozor Williams, has lost his sight due to a
torture he allegedly suffered in the hands of some
operatives of the Department of State Services in
Lagos.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the 46-year-old pastor’s
house in the Ayobo area of the state had been invaded
by the security officials after his houseboy, identified
simply as Chukwujekwu, defrauded some residents
using fake dollars.
PUNCH Metro was told that when the officials failed to
arrest the suspect, who had fled, they ransacked
Ejimozor’s home and found some of the counterfeit
currency.
He was reportedly bundled into a DSS operational van,
where he was subjected to different forms of torture.
When he sought to know the identities of the men, one
of the officials allegedly hit his head with the butt of a
gun.
A few weeks later, he was said to have become blind.
Despite visiting no fewer than eight hospitals, the
Rivers State indigene had yet to regain his sight.
Ejimozor said he formerly owned a hotel and a house
in Abuja, which were demolished by the Federal
Government, adding that he later relocated to Lagos to
start a new life.
He said, “I started working as a freight worker at the
Apapa port where I met the houseboy. Someone
actually introduced Chukwujekwu to me and I decided
to help the boy.
“After some time, he told me that he wanted to travel
and that I should borrow him some money. I told him I
didn’t have any money, so he went to meet a man
called Okoye, an old friend of mine. Okoye gave him
some fake dollars.”
He added that Chukwujekwu showed the dollars to a
barber in the area, saying his relative abroad sent him
the money and could also help the barber secure a
visa to travel overseas.
The barber allegedly parted with N30,000 for the visa
and handed the suspect his passport.
Chukwujekwu reportedly fled the house after
defrauding several other residents on the street.
“On May 9, 2014, I was at home when about six
persons scaled the fence into my compound. They
wore black shirts and were armed.
“They came into the house with Okoye and three other
gunmen. They began to search the house and beat up
people in the compound.
“During the search, they found the fake dollars
Chukwujekwu used to defraud people in the area.
They said I should sign a statement, but I refused.
They beat me up,” he added.
He explained that he was put in a DSS vehicle and
taken away.
He said when he asked what he did wrong, one of the
gunmen hit him with the butt of a gun in the head,
threatening to kill him.
Ejimozor said a part of his skull was compressed after
the assault, adding that he was later driven to the DSS
office on CMD Road, Magodo, Ketu-Ikosi.
He said, “It was when we arrived at their head office
that I realised they were DSS officials. They chained
my hands and feet. The next day, they informed me
that Okoye told them that we both used fake dollars to
defraud people. I denied the claim.
“I was held incommunicado for three weeks and was
constantly tortured.
“The DSS later said before they would release me, I
must pay N15m which I didn’t have. I told them that
all I had was N20,000. After another round of torture,
I fainted and was rushed to a clinic where they told
them that my blood pressure was low.”
He added that he was immediately transferred to the
State Criminal investigation and Intelligence
Department of the Lagos State Police Command.
After spending two weeks at the SCIID, Ejimozor said
he was arraigned before a Yaba Magistrate’s Court.
He was reportedly remanded in the Ikoyi Prison
pending when he would fulfil his bail conditions.
However, while in the prison, the victim said he had a
migraine and was rushed to a hospital.
“This led to a partial stroke. I was at home some
weeks later when everywhere suddenly went blank. I
couldn’t see anything again and that was how I went
blind.
“Now, I cannot do anything for myself and my family.
I am frustrated. I also have diabetes and high blood
pressure,” he added.
His wife, Mrs. Chinyere Williams, said they visited
more than eight hospitals together without any result,
adding that her husband was later asked to go for a
CT scan
She said the scan revealed that he could not see
because his brain had been affected after he was hit
with the butt of a gun.
“We have been married for 18 years and seeing him
like this is like hell. Since he came out from the DSS
cell, it has been one sickness after another. I had to
carry him on my back several times from the house to
hospitals,” she added.
Chinyere said the case against her husband at the
magistrate court was struck out because after the
first arraignment, neither the DSS nor the police
showed up in court.
She called for the punishment of the DSS officials and
appealed that her husband be flown abroad for a
brain surgery that would correct the problem.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, described
the attack as a breach of the rights of the victim,
saying the DSS must end the practice of torture.
He said, “The family has given us a firm instruction to
pursue the matter legally. Beyond asking for
exemplary damages for him, we also intend to use his
case to stop the practise of subjecting innocent
members of the public to torture.”
The Lagos DSS could not be reached for comment as
of the time of filing this report.Punch
Alabatvnews.
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