R.I.P.Lucy....may God bless your soul! We Love You & we will Miss you!
Family of Lucy Ukpong, the 18-year-old
sales girl killed by some policemen in Apo, Abuja on October 12, have
said nothing short of justice will be acceptable to them.
This is just as Lucy was buried amid tears at
Etinan Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State on Saturday.
PUNCH Metro had reported on Friday that the police authorities had pleaded with the family to accept an amicable settlement of the matter.
But Lucy’s uncle, Tony Ukpong, who spoke
with our correspondent in Etinan on Saturday, insisted that the family
was more interested in justice.
Although he acknowledged that the police
had made entreaties to the family, he said family members were still
meeting and had yet to decide whether to dialogue with the police
authorities or not.
Tony said, “Justice must be done because the way Lucy was killed is not acceptable to us; we demand justice and nothing less.
Meanwhile, the National Coordinator,
Greater Gbagyi Development Initiative, Gbaiza Gimba, has said the
organisation will not allow the matter to be swept under the carpet.
Gimba, who spoke with our correspondent
after the burial, said the group took interest in the matter in line
with its principle that justice must be done to aggrieved parties.
“We believe that Lucy died for justice.
We shall be ready to give her justice. Whatever the situation, we will
be talking with our leaders, our traditional institutions in making sure
that justice is done to ameliorate the suffering of the son that she
left behind,” he said.
He blamed police brutality on bad leadership, adding that the leaders had abdicated their responsibility.
Gimba observed that in developed
countries, policemen use rubber bullets to disperse crowd during civil
unrest, wondering why the Nigeria Police always use live bullets to
disperse protesters.
He said, “In crisis, police were
supposed to go with teargas, but because there is no control over issues
by the government, that is why anything can happen in this country.
A sympathiser, Okon Tom, said the
killing had also shown that the police were not for the masses but for
the rich and privileged members of the society.
He called on civil society groups to ensure that justice was done to Lucy by identifying and bringing the killers to justice.
Lucy, a sales girl at a photography
shop, was hit in the chest by bullets fired by policemen from the FTC
Special Anti-robbery Squad on October 12. She had only spent one month
on her job before the incident.
The policemen claimed they had come to
enforce the order on demolition of illegal structures by officials of
the development control department of Abuja Metropolitan Council.
But the policemen, according to findings, were on illegal duty as the council had denied sending them to enforce the order.
Lucy’s remains were buried on Saturday
at 1.13pm at her family’s compound on Udo Inyang Street, Etinan. Apart
from her parents, she also left a son, Devine Godswill, behind.
Culled-Punch
This is very Sad....another innocent soul sent to great beyond due to police illiterate and useless behavior. Shame on them(NpF)!
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