A Police Inspector attached to Akwa Ibom state police command, Bassey Ikpe, has allegedly beaten a widow to death.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Odiko Macdon, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, January 22.
Macdon said the police commissioner had instructed the Deputy Commissioner, State Criminal Investigations Department to carry out a thorough investigation into the matter.
The PPRO said the decision of the police to finally look into the alleged murder was informed by the reports in some dailies and online media in the state.
Macdon said: “The attention of the Akwa Ibom State Police Command has been drawn to publications in some dailies and online media to the effect that a police officer attached to the state police command, one Insp. Bassey Ikpe, reportedly beat one Deborah Nkpenie to death, on Jan. 16.
“To authenticate this serious allegation, CP Imohimi Edgal, the state Commissioner of Police, has ordered the immediate arrest of the said inspector.”
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An witness, Mfonobong Peter, a sister to the deceased, explained that the said policeman, who is the IPO in an ongoing matter, had entered the bedroom of the deceased to forcefully dress her up.
She said the IPO went wild with the allegation that the deceased was lying about her state of health in order to escape being arraigned in court.
“My late sister was beaten to death by Insp. Bassey Ikpe. He had threatened her repeatedly since this matter came up.
“My sister had waist pains arising from the dislocation she had while caring for her late husband. This made it difficult for her to move about freely.
“She had become almost bedridden because of the difficulty in movement. She was highly hypertensive due to the health complications that led to her husband’s death.
“But this policeman refused to heed the advice of the Deputy Commissioner of Police. I don’t know what personal interest he had in the matter.
“He had forced her to come to the police station so that they could appear in court on a fictitious criminal charge, against the advice of the deputy commissioner of police the previous day. He beat my sister to death,” she alleged.