‘You slapped me four times’ — SARS victim confronts police lawyer at judicial panel

A mild drama placed out on Tuesday when a petitioner Mr Okoli Agu Abunike, spotted a Police lawyer who assaulted him at the hearing of his case.

Abunike had just been cross examined by police counsel Emmanuel Eze, when he sought the panel’s permission to speak.

Abunike, a father of five, had already answered questions about his allegations that in 2012, Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) operatives detained and tortured him for 47 days at their Ikeja station.

The petitioner a litigation clerk, upon getting permission to speak from panel chair Justice Doris Okuwobi,(Rtd), pointed at the police lead counsel, Mr Joseph Eboseremen, and accused him of assault.

Abunike said: “I am surprised today to see a counsel sitting before this tribunal in my proceedings, Mr J. Eboseremen

“Last year he slapped me four times at Panti (State Criminal Investigating and Intelligence Department, (SCIID) when I went to serve him a court process. He said I should slap him back if I had the balls.”

In his response, Eboseremen denied the allegation, claiming that it all started following his refusal to compromise his integrity in a N200million judgment debt recovery case involving a law firm linked with Eboseremen.

“He (Abunike) wants to dent my image….Myself? Slapping you? I don’t sell my integrity for a pot of porridge,” the police officer said.

Earlier during his cross-examination Abunike confirmed that the police extracted two of his teeth.

He also said that his mother and wife were beaten up before his property was sold.