Family accuses soldiers of ‘torturing 35-year-old man to death’ in Benue

Family accuses soldiers of ‘torturing 35-year-old man to death’ in Benue

The family of Ernest Owoicho, a 35-year-old man, has accused
troops of Operation Whirl Stroke in Benue State of torturing their loved one to
death in Ugbokpo community of Apa LGA.

 

Ernest, a nurse, was said to have been arrested by soldiers
at his residence in Ugbokpo on Saturday, April 5, 2025, and was confirmed dead
barely 24 hours later.

 

Speaking on behalf of the family, Nelson Owoicho, brother to
the deceased, disclosed that Ernest called him via the telephone around
1:54 pm on Saturday and said soldiers were at his house to beat him up.

 

Nelson said the first phone call lasted 37 seconds, and that
his late brother called again two minutes later, saying the soldiers had not
told him what he had done wrong and were taking him away.

 

That was the last conversation between the two brothers.

 

Some minutes later, Nelson called his brother, but he did
not respond to the telephone call.

 

Nelson said some hours later, the family got a report that
the soldiers allegedly took Ernest to Elu Lodge, a temporary shelter for troops
of Operation Whirl Stroke posted to the community.

 

He alleged that when the soldiers took Ernest, a father of
two, to Elu Lodge, they tortured him for hours.

 

He added that the family contacted Adams Ochega, the Apa LG
chairman, and other officials to secure Ernest’s release, but all efforts
proved abortive.

 

Nelson said around 5 pm on Saturday, he got another report
that his late brother collapsed at the military detention and was taken to the
hospital in the community.

 

“I sent people to find out the hospital he was taken to.
They went to all the hospitals in Ugbokpo to search for him, but it did not
yield any results,” he said.

 

“On the same day, we got another information that his body
had been deposited at the Apa General Hospital.

 

“We sent someone to the hospital to confirm that. There was
no positive result. At the morgue, we were told that the name of the body
deposited was one Victor Otache and that is not the name of our brother. So we
relaxed a little bit.”

 

Nelson said on the next day, the family members started
receiving phone calls that Ernest “died in military detention”.

Nelson said after getting the news of the death of Ernest,
the family members went to the Elu Lodge to ask the military personnel about
the whereabouts of their loved one.

 

He said the family received “no concrete response” at the
military base, but the personnel instructed them to return at noon on the same
day.

 

“Afterwards, tension rose in the town. Young men blocked the
major roads to protest. The LGA chairman and the people decided to identify the
corpse deposited in the morgue on Saturday,” Nelson said.



“When we saw the corpse at the morgue, his body was severely
beaten from the head to the entire body. The body deposited as Victor Otache
was confirmed to be Ernest Owoicho.

 

“He was brutalised until he died. The information that we
got revealed that he died within 45 minutes of his arrest on Saturday.”

 

Nelson said the deceased’s family has been asking the
military authorities in the state to reveal the alleged crime of Ernest that
led to the arrest.

 

Onyema Nwachukwu, the army spokesperson, is yet to respond
to calls and SMS about the incident.

Source: Family accuses soldiers of ‘torturing 35-year-old man to death’ in Benue

 - NigerianEye
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