Police detectives have launched a manhunt for one Alhaji Usman Adamu following a petition, accused of killing Joy Adama, a 200-level student of Cross River State University of Technology, on December 20, 2016.
The mother of the deceased, Philomena, a native of Yala Local Government Area in Cross River State, had accused Adamu of murdering Joy under the guise of funding her university education.
Philomena, in a petition to the Inspector-General of Police, also accused some police officers of shielding Adamu.
She said she last saw her daughter the day Adamu reportedly requested that she should come to his house at Ibro Quarters, Old Karmo village, to look after his sick housemaid.
The petition read, “On December 18, 2016, one Elizabeth from Ogoja LGA, Cross River State, who is my daughter’s friend visited us and told Joy to accompany her to see one Usman Adamu who she said was a philanthropist that gives scholarship to young students.
“Knowing Elizabeth as a long-time friend and without any suspicion, she innocently followed her to the said Alhaji’s house. On getting there, my daughter called me that the Alhaji wanted to see me, that the Alhaji wanted to help her with her education with other girls who lived in the neighbourhood who were there with their parents.”
She added that two days after, the man requested for Joy’s assistance at his residence, adding that she was troubled when her daughter failed to respond to phone calls.
She explained that efforts to reach Adamu on the telephone did not yield result until the next day when he answered his call.
The woman said Adamu pretended not to know who she was and even feigned ignorance about Joy.
She said it was later that Nkem Raphael, divisional police officer of Karmo Police Station, informed her that Joy had died.
“On getting to the police station, the DPO informed us that all the girls that went to Alhaji’s house are all unconscious; that one is not responding to treatment while the others are responding. We requested to see Joy but we were turned down and asked to come back the next day,” she said.
She added, “The next day I went back to the police station with relatives and a lawyer who is a close family friend. To my utter shock, I was told that my daughter was dead and had been taken to the mortuary.
“We asked to know how, why and what led to Joy’s death and the DPO declined further comments. Our lawyer asked if the Alhaji had been arrested but he bluntly told us that as far he was concerned, Alhaji was not culpable, no crime had been committed, that my daughter died a natural death and he cannot arrest Adamu.
“He told the lawyer to take the matter to his superiors but that he had already informed them about the matter and as far as they were concerned, Alhaji could not be arrested.”
The bereaved mother said the DPO directed her to the Federal Medical Centre, Airport Road, Abuja, where she discovered that her daughter’s corpse had been embalmed.
Philomena explained that the hospital staff informed her that the corpse was brought in on December 21 and embalmed after Adamu claimed to be the girl’s father, adding that the DPO instructed the hospital to accept the corpse.
The aggrieved woman said she inquired from the police officer why her daughter was embalmed without her consent, but he “bluntly told us not to pursue this case further, that he would advise us to dialogue with Usman Adamu for our daughter’s burial. He said if we knew what was good for us, we should agree to whatever the Alhaji will offer us and desist from further pursuing this matter.”
She stated that Adamu then offered to settle the matter with N300,000 which she said infuriated her prompting her to brief a lawyer.
Philomena said, “The lawyer insisted that further investigation be carried out. The DPO again called for a second meeting where we met with Umoru Shehu; an assistant inspector general of police in charge of intelligence at force headquarters.
“Shehu told us bluntly also that investigation in this matter had been closed and could not be reopened. He asked Adamu to add an additional N100,000 to his initial offer but Adamu told us harshly that that was the best he could do and that it was his final decision.”
The FCT Police spokesman, Usen Omorodion, said on Sunday that the case had been transferred from the command to the IRT.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood, could not be reached for further update on the investigation.
