Police are yet to visit me weeks after they killed my wife – Husband of slain banker

Posted by admin Latest Politics, Nigerian Police Monday, February 14th, 2011

The death of his wife, Doris, an employee of Bank PHB, has not only left a vacuum in Eugene Okere’s life, but also made him a widower with the added burden of bringing up an eight-month-old baby, Chidiebere.

He had to engage a nanny to care for the baby who has been exposed to the harsh realities of life at such a tender age.

Doris was killed by a riot policeman attached to Mpape branch of Zenith Bank, Abuja, on January 31, 2011.

She was on her way to work, when she was shot by the policeman, an incident that led to a riot and the burning of the bank by a mob.

Eugene told PUNCH METRO that his wife had just left the house some minutes when he got a call from her GSM phone. “I was wondering what she forgot at home when a male voice told me the owner of the phone had been shot. I fell down and managed to go outside to flag a taxi when I saw my neighbour. I informed him about the call; together we rushed down to the scene,” he explained.

He stated that he saw the lifeless body of his wife in the pool of her blood and he held her before he was dragged away by sympathisers. Eugene said it was “callous” for the police authorities not to have visited him since the incident happened about two weeks ago.

“The police are yet to visit me since the incident or show that they are concerned in any way. I believe the police leadership is biased. I have seen the FCT police commissioner and his Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Moshood Jimoh, on television absolving the policeman that shot my wife of blame, saying it was an accidental discharge. How can you say it is accidental discharge when you said investigation was still going on? I watched them on television saying this and it is not right,” Eugene said.

However, Jimoh, said that the commissioner had sent a delegation headed by a deputy commissioner to pay a condolence visit to the Okere family, shortly after the incident. “But I don’t know why the delegation has not visited the family; I am sure they might have visited the family, but did not meet them at home,” he added.

Doris will be buried on February 29 in her village in Mbaise, Imo State.

The Service Manager, Bank PHB, Mrs. Edna Akpan, who was Doris’ immediate boss, described her as a dedicated, humble and committed worker whose simplicity endeared her to colleagues and customers alike.

-Punchwp_posts