Akin Fakorede, the Commander of Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (F-SARS), in Rivers State, says contrary to popular opinions that the police shot late Dr. Ferry Gberegbe, a lecturer at the Ken Saro Wiwa Polytechnic Bori, the academic died of food poisoning.
Fakorede, an assistant commissioner of police, made the above claims in Port Harcourt when he appeared before the House of Representatives Joint Committees on Army, Police Affairs and Human Rights and Justice, investigating the activities of the police and army during the 2019 polls in Rivers.
FSARS was accused of shooting Gberegbe who was an agent of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the just concluded gubernatorial election in the abdomen.
He was seen being evacuated in a video that has now gone viral on the Internet and died few days later at the St Patrick’s hospital, Port Harcourt.
Akin Fakorede told the joint committees that the family of Gberegbe denied police access to conduct an autopsy on his remains.
He also disclosed that Gberegbe had gunshot wound from a locally-made pistol, adding that he died of food poisoning, noting that the video on social media containing how Gberegbe was killed, was concocted, adding that it (the video) was done before the election.
Fakorede said: “The police is investigating the incident. But, the family of the man has refused to allow us to conduct an autopsy on the remains of the victim.
“Till now, the police Homicide Department has not seen the remains of the victim. We have visited the hospital and seen the doctor that handled the case.
“The victim must have been shot by his friends. He had a gunshot wound from a locally-made pistol, but died of food poisoning,” he emphasised.
Meanwhile, the leader and chairman of the team, Rimande Kwewum, noted that the essence of the exercise was to take legislative actions to correct the ills that were observed during the last elections in the state.
Kwewum assured that the team would not witch-hunt anyone in its report, adding that there was the need to straighten things in the state in the interest of the nation.
He said: “There are too many interests in what we are doing here. So, there is a need to straighten things out in the interest of this country.
“We will not suppress the truth in the interest of justice. The essence is to take legislative actions to correct. We are using the process to repair our system to ensure it does not occur again,” Kwewum stated.
