A survivor of police brutality, Ifeanyi Osuji, has revealed how their friend, Ikwunado Chima, was tortured to death at the Mile One Police Station in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

Chima died on December 23, 2019, after he was arrested on his way home alongside four of his friends by officials of the Eagle Crack team in Port Harcourt.

The late Chima was with four of his friends in a car belonging to one of his customers when policemen arrested them for alleged car robbery.

The owner of the car had since approached the police, identified Chima as his mechanic before his vehicle was released to him.

However, speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt on Friday, Osuji explained that Chima was tied leg up to an iron pipe and hit several times with a hammer, two-by-two wood and the butt of a gun several times before he passed away.

He disclosed that as a result of the needless torture, they (Osuji and three others) noticed that Chima became mentally challenged, adding that all efforts to get the message passed to the police fell on deaf ears.

It was gathered that Chima also bled from his nose while he was tortured, while one of the policemen, a woman, touched his private part and threatened to cut it so that he (Chima) will not be able to impregnate any woman.

According to Osuji:

“After torturing Chima, he (Chima) could not walk again. It was me and Victor (another survivor of police torture) that always helped Chima to get to the toilet to ease himself. If they handcuff you, they will use an iron pipe to cross your legs and hang you to the wall.

“Your head will now be down, while your legs will be up. That was how they hanged Chima from morning till 5 pm and were hitting him with a hammer and two-by-two stick. We were also tortured. They blindfolded us, while they hit us with hammer, guns and two-by-two wood.

“After the torture, they threw Chima into the cell and that was when we noticed that Chima had become mentally ill. We began to shout that Chima’s condition was strange, but they (police) did not listen to us until Chima died. Victor and I carried his corpse outside.

“They (police) used something to cover Chima’s body and took him away. Every day, they go to buy bread and sachet water for us. But we told them to allow us to go because we are innocent.”

Another victim of police torture, Friday Osaze, told newsmen that the Eagle Crack team had a torture ground, where they used weapons, including machete to inflict injuries on people.

Osaze explained that some of them were forced to confess to a crime they did not commit due to the grievous nature of the torture they had gone through.

“Inside the police station, they began to use hammer to hit my legs. They also hit Ifeanyi Onyekere’s legs with hammer. Our bodies were filled with blood due to the beating by the policemen. Due to the torture, some of us began to confess what they did not do.

“They later took me and Ifeanyi Onyekwere out. We were handcuffed. At the back of the station, where they called torture ground. There, they used hammer, 2 by 2, machete, stick, baton, gun and knife to torture us. The beat us seriously.

“There was a gutter by the side. We fell inside and Ifeanyi Onyekwere and I came out of the gutter with our last strength. Still, they did not leave us. They insisted that we must confess. From the beginning, the Commander of the Eagle Crack team did not see us. At about 9.30pm, the torture continued by Inspector Sam and his boys,” Osaze added.