Ayodele Olalere
Ten months after soldiers murdered her policeman husband, Monday Orukpe, Favour, the widow is still in the quest for justice.
For Favour and the four children left behind by the slain policeman, life has been tough, very difficult. Abandoned by her in-laws, feeding and taking care of the four children have been a Herculean task for the mother of four.
Her husband, Monday, an Inspector at the time, was killed by soldiers in Lagos in August 2022 after he and his colleagues were allegedly tortured by a group of angry soldiers at the Trade Fair area of the state.
The soldiers were reported to be travelling to the Ojo Military Cantonment when an argument ensued between them and police operatives who were coordinating traffic on the highway.
The argument resulted in a fight between the policemen and the soldiers who overpowered them and whisked two of the cops, including Monday, to their barracks.
One of the policemen was able to flee from the scene after struggling with the soldiers with his gun shooting in the air, but Monday was not lucky as he was allegedly tortured by the soldiers and later died at the military hospital due to injuries he suffered from the assault.
Two autopsies carried out on the deceased revealed that he died of assault, multiple injuries and blunt force trauma. He was later buried in November.
Speaking with The Nigerian Xpress newspaper, Favour said all efforts by her to make the army authority compensate the family and prosecute the soldiers involved in the death of her husband had proved abortive.
She lamented that she had been abandoned by the police, the army and her in-laws, thereby making life more difficult for her and the children.
“It has not been easy taking care of the children alone. I have gone to the police authority to seek their financial assistance but they have refused to do anything. They have even refused to pay his entitlements. I went to the police cooperative society he belonged to collect his contributions but for the past 10 months, all they have been telling us is that they are working on it,” she lamented.
Favour further said three of the children have stopped going to school as she could no longer afford to pay their school fees while only the 15-year-old eldest child attends school and will soon write her Senior Secondary School West Africa Examination exams.
She added since her husband’s death, his family had abandoned her and the children.
“His family is the worst. Since November 18 he was buried, they have abandoned us. He has five step-brothers in Lagos but none of them has helped us. All they were after is his property which is the house where I am living with the children. They tried to collect his entitlements from the police and money from the cooperative but when they noticed it was not easy, they abandoned us.
A few weeks ago, the children were sick and I took them to the hospital. I called his brothers for assistance but none of them assisted us. It was one of my friends and someone that gave us money for treatment.”
Favour said she’s suspecting the army authorities are shielding the soldiers involved as they have refused to release them for prosecution.
She further said to get justice, she has sought the services of rights activist and lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) who has now instituted a legal action before a Federal High Court, Lagos, against the Army demanding N300 million as compensation.
In a suit filed on Thursday, May 25, Favour is seeking N300 million compensation for her late husband. Parties in the suit include the Chief of Army Staff and 10 officers of the Nigerian Army.
The suit stated that the late police officer’s fundamental rights, including the right to life, the dignity of the human person, private and family life, and presumption of innocence, as guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, were grossly violated.
The applicants are asking the court to declare the torture and extra-judicial killing of the police officer as illegal and unlawful.
According to the suit, “the deceased, Inspector Monday was an Inspector of the police with the Trade Fair Police Divisional Headquarters of the Lagos State Police Command, murdered on August 3, 2022, along Lagos/Badagry Expressway, Lagos while carrying out his official duties as a police officer.
“The deceased, Inspector Monday was entitled to his right to life, the dignity of his person, fair hearing and presumption of innocence guaranteed by Sections 33, 34 and 36 (1) and (5) of Nigeria (As Amended) and Articles 4, 5 and 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (CAP A10) LFN 2004.
“The extra-judicial killing of the applicant’s husband, Inspector Monday by armed agents of the first respondent at the Lagos/Badagry Expressway of Lagos State on Wednesday, August 3, 2022, violates the deceased’s fundamental right to life guaranteed by Section 33 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) 1999 (As Amended) and Article 4 of the African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights.
“The brutalisation and indiscriminate killing of the applicant’s husband, Inspector Monday by the respondents at the Lagos/Badagry Expressway of Lagos State on Wednesday, August 3, 2022, is wrongful, oppressive, illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void as it violates the deceased’s fundamental right to the dignity of the human person.
“The extra-judicial murder of the applicant’s husband, Inspector Monday by the respondents at the Lagos/Badagry Expressway of Lagos State on Wednesday, August 3, 2022, is wrongful, oppressive, illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void as it violates the deceased’s fundamental right to fair hearing and presumption of innocence.”
They are asking the court to make an ‘order compelling the respondents to pay a total sum of N300 million as compensation, which ‘includes the establishment of a special education fund of not less than N100 million to cater for the educational needs of the deceased’s children from primary school up to the university of their choices.’
The demand also includes ‘ N200 million as general and aggravated damages for the illegal violation of Monday’s fundamental rights.
No date has been fixed for the hearing of the matter.