Continue as law-abiding residents in SA, Nigerian Consulate urges its citizens
|Published
Pretoria - The Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg has welcomed the arrest of four police officers who allegedly assaulted and tortured Nigerian national Clifford Iroka Onyedikachi.
The diplomatic mission said the torture of the Nigerian resulted in his hospitalisation. He remained in a coma for nine days before regaining consciousness.
The officers, a sergeant and three constables, were arrested while at work.
On Friday, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) told IOL that they were appearing in the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court.
The police officers were charged for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and defeating the ends of justice.
The Nigerian Consulate said the ordeal started when Onyedikachi was confronted by police officers, who demanded his ID.
“Mr Onyedikachi was, on 9th January, accosted by the police in the company of his friend, Mr Ike Goodluck. The police demanded for his identity documentation and, in response, he showed the electronic copy.
“The police officers, who were unsatisfied with the electronic copy, forced Mr Onyedikachi into their patrol van and led him to the police station where he was subsequently assaulted and tortured, resulting in severe injuries,” the consulate said.
The diplomatic mission said that after it had been alerted to the incident, officials visited Onyedikachi in hospital and escalated the matter to Ipid.
“The arrest of the police officers by Ipid is commendable and a testament of the willingness of the South African authorities to act on the incessant complaints of unprofessional acts by some police officers,” the Nigerian Consulate added.
“It is hoped that this will act as a deterrent to other officers who may be engaging in unethical policing.
“Meanwhile, the consulate wishes to use this medium to reiterate its appeal to members of the Nigerian community to continue to be law-abiding residents in their various host communities.”
Earlier this week, the “Pretoria News” reported that the overzealous conduct of police officers in arresting a Congolese national on unsubstantiated charges of being unlawfully in the country and fraud, would cost the taxpayer dearly, after he turned to the courts.
The court ordered the police to pay him R300 000 in damages.
Geophonse Mabiala, who hails from Brazzaville, turned to the Western Cape High Court after he was illegally arrested and detained for a week.
He arrived in South Africa in 2004 and held a lawful asylum-seeker permit to remain in the country. He worked as a firefighter and also studied in South Africa.
In June 2013, he went to a public service kiosk at the Cape Town Station, manned by the SAPS, to make an affidavit before a commissioner of oaths, so that he could lawfully exchange the SIM card on his cellphone.
In the process of deposing the affidavit, it came to the attention of the SAPS officer on duty that he was a foreign national.
Believing that Mabiala might be an illegal immigrant and had fraudulently used a document to verify his identity, the SAPS officer ordered him to remain present behind the counter at the booth while the status of the document was verified with Home Affairs.
He was subsequently arrested and taken to the police station, where he was held. Mabiala was taken to court later, where the charge of being illegally in the country was dropped. He was, however, further detained for a few days on a charge of fraud, as he had an ID-size document in his possession, stating who he was and with the official stamp of Home Affairs.
The police said they believed it to be fraudulent, but it later turned out that Mabiala had legally obtained this document from a Home Affairs office.
Mabiala testified that he usually carried his permit in his wallet, but when he opened it that afternoon at the kiosk, to take it out in order to verify his identity, he discovered that he had left it at home.
He explained that he also had a small, credit-card sized document issued to him by Home Affairs. As he opened his wallet, a police officer spotted the card, grabbed it and accused him of being “a Nigerian fraudster”.
He protested his innocence, pointing out that he was from the Congo, had no criminal record, and that he had a permit to be in South Africa. He offered to fetch his permit at home but the police were not interested. He was, instead, thrown in a police cell for a week.
The SAPS, on the other hand, insisted that he tried to use the Home Affairs card as proof of his identity and that the card was fraudulently obtained.
It later transpired that all was above board, and the charges were withdrawn.
He, however, endured a week in a tiny, filthy police cell, with little to eat. He also told the court how his life was threatened by members of a notorious gang, with whom he had to share his cell.
Judge Patrick Gamble concluded that R300 000 was fair compensation.
IOL