Punch reported that the father to one of the four students, who were killed by a mob on October 5, 2012, in Aluu, Rivers State, said the past five year have been traumatic, especially whenever he remembered how the innocent undergraduates were humiliated and eventually murdered.
The students were later identified as 19-year-old Lloyd Toku, a 200 level Civil Engineering undergraduate; 18-year-old Ugonna Obuzor, 200 level Geology student; 20-year-old Chiadika Biringa, 200 level Theatre Arts student; and Tekena Erikena, a 20-year-old diploma (Technical) student all of the University of Port Harcourt.
Toku Lloyd’s father, Mr. Mike Toku, told our correspondent that he would not wish even his worst enemies to go through the kind of experience he went through after the gruesome murder of his young and promising son.
Speaking few days after Justice Letam Nyordee of the State High Court had sentenced three persons, including one Sergeant Lucky Orji, to death for their involvement in the killing of the students; Toku said he could not remove the sad memories of his son’s death from his mind.
Delivering judgement on Monday, Justice Nyordee sentenced Sergeant Orji, David Ogbada and Ikechukwu Amadi, aka Kapoon, to death for their active participation in the murder of the four UNIPORT students. The court further discharged and acquitted four of the suspects standing the same trial, Saviour Johnny, Abiodun Yusuf, Joshua Ekpe and Cyril Abang for not being actively involved in the murder.
Nyordee added that the decision of the court would serve as a warning to people who indulge in jungle justice, even as he expressed the need to protect human life.
But Toku Mike, father of one of the Aluu 4 victims told Saturday PUNCH that he had forgiven those behind the mindless killing of his son and three others, even as he lamented that a policeman that should have saved them joined in hitting the final blow. He said, “I am satisfied with the ruling that convicted and sentenced three persons. The judgement has further shown that our children were innocent, only that we would have wanted all the 12 persons to be convicted and sentenced because all of them were accomplices; though the law thinks differently.”
According to Toku,
“I have forgiven all of them because I actually don’t hold anything against them. It will be wrong of me to have something against them. Though they killed our children, but I have forgiven them. In law, they have to reap, according to the Bible, what they sow. In this case, they sowed a bad seed and that is also what they are going to reap. That also means that they paid for the crime they committed.
“I was actually surprised that the police sergeant failed to carry out his responsibility of protecting life. In the video, we could see where Sergeant Lucky Orji was using his gun butt to hit some of the children. What I expected was that as law enforcement agents, they would have been able to protect them first. When the judge was given his judgement, he said the children were still alive when the police stopped there, but surprisingly, their boss told them to retreat otherwise the mob would destroy their vehicle. It was as if the vehicle was more important compared to the lives of our children. That is a very big surprise to me. I cannot imagine this could happen.
“It was irresponsible and unprofessional of the policeman. He was not supposed to be a collaborator in that incident. Unfortunately, he did and he got what he deserved. My message to the police and other security agents is that they should be very professional in their conduct. Human life in this case is more important than any vehicle. Are you not surprised that on that day, the policemen that came to the scene did not have teargas to disperse the crowd. If there was one or two and they were put into use, the crowd would have been easily dispersed and these children would been saved.”
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