26-year-old Grace Smith who was brutalised along with her husband, Ejeh, and left with horrific injuries last week Wednesday after a beating by Dada Ogunsanya, a policeman attached to the Ikoyi Police Division, Lagos, has got a frightening news.
“We have been looking forward to a child since we got married more than a year ago. I had no idea I was already pregnant at the time of the beating. Now I may lose it,” she told Saturday PUNCH.
When PUNCH spoke with her on Wednesday, Grace explained that she was still bleeding and had to resort to the use of sanitary pad. She had gone for further treatment at a private hospital on Tuesday when a routine check revealed that she was indeed pregnant. Grace sighed and explained that she
could not even imagine losing such a bundle of joy. She said:
“My problem now is not about the injuries I sustained but the fear that I may lose my baby. How can anybody compensate me for that? The doctors said they are monitoring my condition for now. I realised that I had been bleeding since the day of the incident. I thought it was a normal menstrual flow. I was shocked when they told me that I was pregnant. My doctor said the bleeding is a big problem as the foetus may be harmed.”
The hospital had carried out more tests and scans but doctors said they could still not conclude about the condition of the baby.
According to Grace, Ogunsanya dragged her on the ground and stomped on her tummy during the encounter. The woman and her husband drew the ire of the policeman when they complained about him shining flashlights into their eyes even though the inner light of the taxi they were in was put on during a stop and search at the Lekki Roundabout along the Lekki-Epe Expressway, Lagos.
Speaking on the fear of losing their unborn child, Ejeh said they have been in prayers since they learnt of the pregnancy to prevent a miscarriage.
“My wife is undergoing intensive treatment and checks. But right now, all we can do is pray that she does not lose the baby. The agony will be too much if she does. We have not had a child since we got married. This baby is supposed to be our first child and we have anticipation about that. I don’t even know what I would do if that happens.”
Ejeh, a photographer studying criminology at the National Open University, said he hoped that the brutality he and his wife suffered in the hands of the policeman would put a stop to continued maltreatment of members of the public by Nigerian policemen.
“I was actually afraid that if people did not see it happen, we could have been shot and labelled armed robbers. The way the policeman acted, there was no doubt that he was high on something. I cannot say for sure that it was alcohol but the aggression he exhibited was uncalled for. I was even the one who maintained that we should not challenge him.”
He explained that while the scene played out, the other six members of the police team did nothing to intervene until a tricyclist came by and dragged the couple away from the officer. Ejeh continued:
“We are not rich, we are trying to survive but we would do our best to fight this issue to the extent that the law will permit us. All our friends and family have been appealing to us to ensure that we do not just forget about the issue. Because this issue is perpetrated by police, there is the tendency that it would be swept under the carpet. But we would try our best to continue fighting this.”
Police brutality continues to sour the relationship between members of the public and the force in Nigeria. More often than not, the ‘police are your friends’ slogan appears only as a parody of the reality of the police-public relationship.
However, the Police Public Relations Officer in the State, Mr. Kenneth Nwosu, has said that an orderly room trial had been constituted to determine Ogunsanya’s fate. He said:
“The man (Ejeh) has not come to give statement. All entreaties to him to come and give his statement have not been successful. The complainant’s statement is critical to the orderly room trial. It will enable the adjudicating officer to arrive at an unbiased verdict.”
However, Ejeh has said that the direction of the case is in the hands of his lawyer, Mr. Sunday Agbinya. Agbinya was unavailable for comment when PUNCH contacted him on the family’s next line of action. He had earlier said that a petition would be sent to the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba, demanding a full investigation into the incident and demanding reparation.
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