The family of late Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Hezekiah Abiona, has said officials of the Nigerian Navy abandoned them after two naval ratings stabbed their breadwinner to death in the Satellite Town area of Lagos State.
The ratings, including Onyekachi Egwin and Nnamani Anointing, while dressed in mufti, were on a motorcycle when Abiona and his colleagues flagged them down on Oluti Street, Satellite Town.
The action of the policemen was said to have infuriated the ratings and an argument ensued between them.
The argument degenerated into a fight and in the process, the ratings allegedly stabbed Abiona on December 3, 2022.
The policeman died due to the injuries he sustained during the attack while the suspects were arrested by men of the Lagos State Police Command.
Speaking with our correspondent, Abiona’s son, Benjamin, a final year student of Tai Solarin University of Education, said authorities of the Nigerian Navy feigned ignorance to the traumatising ordeal experienced by the family of the late cop.
He said they were abandoned, adding that to date, the Nigerian Navy refused to pay them a condolence visit or render a helping hand to him and his siblings after the two ratings attacked and killed their breadwinner.
“To date, my mum cries that naval officers are yet to show concern or even send a delegation to the family; they didn’t even bother. It was like they killed a fowl.
“The trauma is still very much for us. Nobody has shown up for us. My siblings and I are all still in school, nobody has asked for us,” Benjamin said. Related News
He explained that during the investigation, he saw the suspects at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, adding that after the police handed the suspects over to the Nigerian Navy for onward prosecution, nothing had been heard of the case.
The aggrieved son, while lamenting over the development, demanded justice for his late father.
The 25-year-old said, “We are demanding justice for the way the naval officers abandoned us. I want justice for my dad. I don’t want them to hide the suspects, with the way it is going now, it looks like they are hiding them.
“It has taken over six months now. This issue happened on December 3, 2022, and we are already in June 2023. We want those ratings charged for the crime.
“My father was one of the cops that was rewarded with commendation letters and N250,000 each by the former governor of the state, Akinwunmi Ambode, for recovering N5m that fell off a bullion van around Alausa, Ikeja.”
The deceased’s wife, Esther, who could not hold back her tears, said she had been abandoned to fate, adding that ever since their breadwinner was killed, feeding and schooling her children had become a Herculean task.
The mother of five said, “Since December, I have been expecting a reaction from the authorities but nothing. I want them and the government to help my children because they are still small. If they can put the children on scholarships, it will help.”
Contacted, the spokesperson for the Nigerian Navy, Commodore Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan, said the case was still ongoing, adding that he would reach out to the legal department to know how far the case had gone.
“If I get all the facts, I would call you back,” he added.
First published in The PUNCH