Victoria Mba, the grieving mother of 22-year-old Moses Mba, has turned down N5m reportedly offered by government officials following the killing of her son by policemen attached to the residence of Cross River State Governor, Bassey Otu.
She insisted that no amount of money would stop her from seeking justice.
Speaking with The PUNCH on Sunday, Mba said some government representatives visited her home on Thursday and presented the sum of N5m to her family.
“They brought N5m. We rejected it. Is the value of my son’s life N5m? They said it was a condolence visit, but I don’t know where condolence is done with money in that way. I want justice, not money,” she said.
Moses, the first son of the family, was shot on August 1 after he reportedly told security men that he wanted to preach to the governor.
“Is it a crime if somebody goes to a gate? They could have sent him away or kept him somewhere until they reached his parents.
“Instead, they beat him and shot him in the leg. That’s how they ended my son’s life,” she added.
While hospitalised for eight days before his death, plainclothes security operatives were said to have kept watch in his ward.
Mba explained that the family demanded an autopsy to establish whether he died strictly from the gunshot wound or from physical assault.
“The Assistant Commissioner of Police told me we should wait for an autopsy. I said fine, but I don’t trust their doctors. I can’t even watch them touch my son’s body. I just want the truth.
“They think we are stupid. They think they can silence me with money. My son was my first child, my pride, the one his siblings looked up to. He called me ‘mother’ first. They have taken him away and tried to cover it up. I will not be silenced,” she declared.
She demanded the arrest and prosecution of all security personnel responsible for her son’s death, stressing that the issue was about restoring her son’s dignity, not accepting handouts.
“I have lost my investment, my identity. But I want his death to mean something. If they think N5m will buy our silence, they don’t know me. I want justice for Moses,” she said.
Government’s Position
The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Linus Obogo, confirmed that Governor Otu had condemned the incident and ordered a police investigation.
“I have lost my investment, my identity. But I want his death to mean something. If they think N5m will buy our silence, they don’t know me. I want justice for Moses,” she added.
Obogo denied that the money offered was a bribe, insisting it was only meant to assist the bereaved family.
“When we paid the condolence visit, we felt it was only proper to support the bereaved family in terms of burial arrangements. It was not for any other reason. We could not have visited and left them empty-handed,” he explained.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Igri Ewa, also confirmed that the case was under investigation.
“It is already on and it is no longer something that anybody is hiding. There was an ugly incident and the deceased is already late. So, I wouldn’t go into giving stories of how. We were all not there. Investigation will unravel.
“If you are following the trend of social media and other publications, even the state government is concerned about the matter. So, it is not something that somebody is hiding. The outcome will be made known.
“The Commissioner of Police made a categorical statement a few days ago when he was interviewed on that. In cases like this, the DPP must give legal advice, while the police handle internal disciplinary action. Autopsy will come in based on the advice of the legal team.
“I have confirmed that the command is on the matter. The governor of Cross River State has ordered a discreet investigation. The command has also been ordered same. The matter is receiving attention. The police officer in question is already facing internal disciplinary action. It is quite unfortunate because we are talking about life.”
Rights Activists Speak Out
Civil society groups have also weighed in on the matter. The President of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Debo Adeniran, called the killing an extrajudicial act that must not go unpunished.
“Nobody has the right to take another person’s life without judicial pronouncement. That is denying someone the right to life. When the right to life is taken, then all other rights are forfeited.
“We believe that the police as an institution do not condone extrajudicial killing. The training they have is to preserve life as much as possible until it becomes necessary to use weapons. It is uncalled for that the police will take somebody’s life.
“The IG has a lot of work to do. Firstly to investigate and establish who is culpable in the extrajudicial killing and ensure that there is a consequence for whosoever must have misused the firearm that is entrusted into his or her care.
“The policeman that is responsible for that must be brought to book and should be given deterrent punishment so that others will take every precaution to avoid extrajudicial killing or causing bodily injury to innocent Nigerian because it is a violation of their right to welfare and insecurity.”
Also commenting, the South-South Zonal Director of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, John Umeh, described the killing as “reprehensible,” stressing that the government must give the victim a befitting burial before talking about any form of compensation.
He added that the family had not requested compensation and maintained that no amount could equate the life of the young preacher who had been preparing to enter university.
“If we could recall, the Senate once mandated NDLEA to pay N200m in compensation for a stray bullet that killed a small boy in Delta State. Looking at this scenario, the government should do the needful. But as it is, the family has not mentioned any compensation to me. They only want the boy to be buried first by the state government,” he said.
Umeh further advised the family to insist on the involvement of an independent pathologist from a teaching hospital in the autopsy process.