Presidency probes death of tortured inmate over Patience Jonathan’s $3m

A case, which began as a routine arrest by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission over $3.1m, has revealed a
system of torture and extra-judicial impunity, which might have
led to the death of an inmate of the Kirikiri Maximum Prison,
Lagos, Suleiman Yerima.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that the $3.1m in contention allegedly
belonged to Mrs. Patience Jonathan, wife of former President,
Goodluck Jonathan, who was said to have earmarked the
money for exigencies during the campaign period leading up to
the 2015 general election.
A sequence of events, which brought a petition concerning
Yerima’s death to the Presidency, began to unfold on July 17,
2015 while Muslims celebrated Sallah.
In a mosque within the high walls of the prison facility, Muslim
inmates – convicted and awaiting trial – prayed. But by the end
of the prayer session, one of them, Yerima, was dead.
The deceased, who was remanded on June 24, 2015 along with
another co-accused, Uwem Antia, were both due to reappear in
court on November 9, 2015.
On Tuesday, the Executive Secretary of the National Human
Rights Commission, Prof. Ben Angwe, led a team of
investigators to the Kirikiri Maximum Prison and the zonal office
of the EFCC in Ikoyi, Lagos, on a fact-finding mission.
According
to him,
the
Presidency
and the
office of
the Vice
President,
Prof.
Yemi
Osinbajo,
had
received
a petition
from the
lawyers of the deceased, detailing how Yerima was tortured by
the police in connivance with the officials of the EFCC and how
that led to the death of the inmate while in prison custody.
At the Kirikiri Maximum Prison, Angwe, who called for
documentations about the inmate’s death, asked the medical
superintendent, Dr. Edwin Hemeson, if Yerima ever complained
about any medical issues. Hemeson confirmed that there was
no time he had any reason to treat the deceased for an ailment
prior to his death.
“When he collapsed at the mosque that day, he was rushed to
the prison hospital, lifeless. We confirmed that he was dead on
arrival. The deceased was transferred to Ajeromi General
Hospital, Ajegunle, where he was again certified dead,”
Hemeson said.
Asked if he noticed any sign of torture on Yerima’s body when
he was brought in from the mosque where he collapsed,
Hemeson said it was the nurses on duty who received the body
and transferred it to Ajeromi.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that on July 21, 2015, four days after the
deceased died, his family requested for his body and asked that
an autopsy should not be performed on him so that he could be
buried according to Islamic doctrine.
Angwe asked Hemeson if he issued a death certificate and what
the cause of death was according to his examination. The death
notification signed by Hemeson in the deceased’s file was
inscribed with “sudden death and query cardiovascular
accident.”
“All we are required to issue is a death notification when an
inmate dies suddenly, we inform the coroner whose duty it is to
ascertain the actual cause of death and issue a death
certificate,” the doctor said.
In June 2015, the EFCC released a statement about the arrest
and arraignment of Yerima and Antia on allegations of, “stealing
the sum of $2,25m from two bankers, Gladys Aginwa and Ale
Dennis.”
“The suspects allegedly approached Aginwa and Dennis in
February 2015, offering to sell foreign exchange to the tune of
$10m to them. After agreeing on the exchange rate, a sum of
N672, 750, 000 (Six Hundred and Seventy Two Million, Seven
Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira only) was transferred into the
account of one of the bankers. From the banker’s account, the
entire sum was moved into Antia’s account,” the EFCC said.
EFCC alleged that Antia approached a bureau de change
operator and handed N666,250,000 to him, after they agreed on
its dollar equivalent of $3,127,000. The commissioner accused
Antia and Yerima of only handing over $1m to the bankers
thereafter, saying they would be able to source for the remaining
the following day. They were later accused of fleeing and
switching off their phones after that.
However, during the NHRC visit to Kirikiri Prison, Antia, the
deceased’s co-accused, explained that he thought he was going
to die the way he was tortured in the custody of the police.
“We handed over the outstanding amount of money to one of
the bankers (Dennis) at the Murtala International Airport. I am
well known to them. This is not the first of such contracts we
would handle for them. They represent Mrs. Patience Jonathan,
the wife of the former President and we have supplied them
dollars on many occasions. When they approached us about the
need to supply the dollars for Mrs. Jonathan’s campaign
activities during the election, I told them we could handle it as
usual. Unfortunately, they diverted her money this time.
“After we were arraigned and the judge said we should be
remanded in custody, the EFCC operatives laid ambush for us
around the court and forcibly took us from prison officials.
“We were later transferred to Zone 2 Police Command where I
was tortured more than I could imagine. I was stripped, held up
by my feet as they dipped my head inside a bucket filled with
water for long. By the time they do that to you, you would even
say what you did not do.
“They shot me in the foot and hung me up with my two hands
tied separately and my legs tied in similar way from night till
morning.
After that, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2,
Joseph Mbu, ordered that they should transfer me to the Maroko
Police Division, where I was locked up in a cell. I defecated on
the same floor I slept for one month.
“I was lucky that a priest who comes around to pray for inmates
came to the cell one day and I slipped him my lawyer’s number.
My lawyer later took up my case and we were later transferred
to Kirikiri. My partner, the late Yerima, also told me about the
brutal torture he went through at Zone 2 also.”
During the NHRC team’s visit to the EFCC, the Head of the Zonal
Office in Lagos, Mr. Iliyasu Kwarbai, explained that the EFCC had
no hand in the torture of the men.
When asked to take the team to the torture chambers of the
EFCC, he said the commission had no such thing.
Kwarbai said, “We are a group of professionals. Integrity is one
of our core values. We don’t extort confessional statements
because our investigation is about tracing records and
documents.
“We did not hand over the men to the police. Zone 2 requested
for them. They came with a letter and we handed the suspects
over.”
Prof. Angwe said what complicated the issue of the suspects
was the involvement of the police. He said if Yerima had died
after falling ill, it would have been a different issue.
He said, “When an inmate dies suddenly in prison, it is a serious
issue. We want to ensure that whoever is involved is brought to
book.
Our duty is to build a just and civilised society.
“The Presidency and the office of the vice president got a
petition from the deceased’s lawyer and the case was referred
to us for investigation. We would get to the root of this case and
ensure justice is done.”
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