A businesswoman, Mrs Victoria Agori, told The PUNCH why she will continue to demand the arrest and dismissal of policemen who invaded her home and killed her son.
Introducing herself, she said her name was Victoria Agori, an evangelist and businesswoman from Bayelsa State. She explained that she gave birth to eight children but now has six, as one died from illness while the other was killed by the police without reason.
Speaking on the child who was killed, she identified him as Daniel Agori, a 21-year-old aspiring footballer in 2019. She noted that he regularly attended training and that some of his peers were now in Spain. She alleged that he was killed by police officers attached to the IGP Monitoring Unit in Alo, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Recounting the incident, she said her son’s fiancée, who was pregnant, had been staying with her when a disagreement arose between the fiancée and her daughter. She said she intervened and asked her daughter to leave the pregnant woman alone.
She stated that on Saturday, May 11, 2019, policemen stormed her house in two vans, shouting that they were after kidnappers and threatening to kill them. She said she had been asleep at the time and barely dressed, while the officers shot sporadically, causing panic.
She added that Daniel had run from room to room despite her warning not to, and that they were all forced into police vehicles. According to her, one officer had suggested killing her son in the house but was stopped by another, and they also took over N200,000 from her.
She further said neighbours had raised alarm as they were being taken away, noting that she was known in the community as an evangelist who hosted crusades and church programmes. She added that her daughter, who was schooling in Ghana, later came home but was driven away by the situation.
She explained that her husband had not been around at the time, as he had travelled to Ebonyi State for a burial.
On who invited the police, she said it was her daughter, who had a police officer boyfriend and had called him, claiming she would die if he did not come quickly to intervene.
Describing what happened at the station, she said that upon arrival, an officer dressed in white came out and immediately ordered a subordinate, who then shot her son dead in her presence. She added that her son’s hands had been tied and he was blindfolded before he was killed. She recalled that when she had pleaded for their lives, an officer struck her with a stick, causing her to faint, and she only regained consciousness after water was poured on her.
She said that four of them had been taken to the station: Daniel, her other son David, her son’s fiancée, and herself.
She said, “It was my daughter that invited the police. She had a police officer as a boyfriend. She told her boyfriend that she would die if he didn’t come on time to intervene.
“The officer came out in white attire. As they just dropped us off their van outside the police station, he gave an order to his subordinate, and that person just came and shot my son and killed him in my presence.
“He said the policemen should tie his hand and blindfold him. They did and shot him. Before that, when I shouted that they should not kill us, one of them hit me with a big stick and I fainted. It was when they poured water on my head that I regained my consciousness.” Read_More…