The Ondo state director of the Legal Aid
Council, Barrister Kuku Ikpidungise and the convener of the Coalition
of Human Rights Defenders (COHRD), Barrister Inibehe Effiong, on
Thursday, 28 July, 2016 took the police in the state and a traditional
ruler to task over the death of a pregnant woman whose name was given as
Justina Joshua.
The family of the deceased with officials of the two organisations that waded into the issue
The deceased was killed by a tree that was being felled by an indigene of Idanre, a town in the state where she lived.
The corpse of the 28-year-old woman was
allegedly held hostage by the traditional ruler and other chiefs who
insisted that she must be buried close to the tress which killed her
adding that this was the tradition.
Reliving how the corpse was finally
released after a long battle with the community and the police, Effiong
said the following took place:
The remains of the 28th year old
pregnant woman departed Idanre general hospital this morning to the Ondo
state general hospital in Akure accompanied by the relatives of the
deceased, the Olu of Onipan who represented the Owa of Idanre (Oba Dr
Frederick Aroloye), and the representatives of the killer logger and the
farm owner. It was escorted by a team of armed police officers led by
the O/C Homicide, Ondo state CID.
Upon our arrival at the mortuary of
state general hospital in Akure, we discovered that the corpse has not
only decomposed, but may have been tampered with.
Thus, we have rejected the corpse.
During a joint meeting with the
deputy commissioner of police in charge of the state CID, we made the
following demands as pre-conditions for us to accept the corpse and
proceed with further discussions:
(a) That an investigation be
carried-out immediately to unravel the circumstances surrounding the
terrible condition of the corpse.
(b) That the corpse should be re-embalmed immediately by the other parties to prevent it from decomposing further.
(c) That an autopsy be carried out on the corpse to determine the cause of death (at least for the records).
The three demands were unreservedly accepted.
The corpse being taken for proper care
Accordingly, an investigation has
commenced to unravel why the corpse is in such a terrible state. Our
suspicion is that some parts of the legs may have been mutilated
(cut-out) for rituals. There was however a suggestion that rats may have
eaten the affected and troubling parts due to poor care. The
investigation will unravel what actually happened and why the corpse was
not embalmed properly. Already, a team of investigators led by the O/C
Homicide has returned to the Idanre general hospital as part of the
investigations.
Also, the corpse will be re-embalmed today and the autopsy will take place on Monday as agreed.
Meanwhile, on our request, the two
suspects Shehu Oke (the killer logger) and Awote Aye (the farm owner)
were brought before us from the cell for us to see them face to face.
Discussions on the burial
arrangements will commence on Monday 1st August. The other parties have
continued to beg for leniency. In their words, they want us to “tamper
justice with mercy and forgive their wrongdoings.”
While we are not adverse to their
pleas, our position is that they must do all that is necessary to give
the deceased a decent burial in her home town in Ukwok, Ini local
government area, Akwa Ibom state.
This is not just about the late Justina, it is more about upholding the sanctity of human life and the dignity of the dead.
It is very annoying that the
deceased was abandoned in the bush by the logger after the tree he
felled hit her leading to her death. If she was rescued timely, she
would have possibly survived. As if that was not enough, her corpse was
detained from the 8th of June when the incident took place and abandoned
at the mortuary without proper care because the Owa of Idanre wanted to
sacrifice the corpse to the tree in accordance with their “tradition”.
Those who thought that they are
powerful and that Justina was powerless, poor and helpless have now
realised that there are people that will always stand up to defend the
oppressed, no matter the risk or cost.
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