Joy Bassey, a mother of four
has narrated the disappearance of her husband since February 2015, after her he
was arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja
Lagos Command and later disappeared while in SARS’s cell.
Till date, she hasn’t set eyes on her husband and her children have been asking questions; questions she lacks answers to. Joy, said the unknown policemen had been threatening to kill her if she persisted in asking for the whereabouts of her husband, Mr. Bassey Ekpo Ekpeyoung. She wondered aloud how to break the news to Bassey’s parents that their son had gone missing. She wailed: “I’ve not told Bassey’s parents that I can’t find him!
Till date, she hasn’t set eyes on her husband and her children have been asking questions; questions she lacks answers to. Joy, said the unknown policemen had been threatening to kill her if she persisted in asking for the whereabouts of her husband, Mr. Bassey Ekpo Ekpeyoung. She wondered aloud how to break the news to Bassey’s parents that their son had gone missing. She wailed: “I’ve not told Bassey’s parents that I can’t find him!
I don’t know what to tell
them. People told me that Bassey might have been killed in SARS custody, but I
don’t believe that! The police have no right to kill a suspect in their
custody! Right now, I’m worried and desperate. These days, I hardly sleep. I think
too much. I have no home. I and my children roam about, seeking where to sleep
and eat.
“Our landlord kicked us out
after SARS men came to our home with Bassey in handcuffs. My children are no
longer going to school because I don’t have money to pay their fees. I just
want the police to produce my husband dead or alive! I need to know what has become
of him!”
Joy, now a shadow of herself, said she stopped going to SARS, to locate her husband after a senior policemen harassed and attempted to intimidate her to have sex with him in exchange for access to Bassey. She explained that when the policeman, who posed as a Good Samaritan, realised she was sincerely shocked at his sexual advances, he had reaffirmed his love, promising to marry her and make her his second wife.
Joy, now a shadow of herself, said she stopped going to SARS, to locate her husband after a senior policemen harassed and attempted to intimidate her to have sex with him in exchange for access to Bassey. She explained that when the policeman, who posed as a Good Samaritan, realised she was sincerely shocked at his sexual advances, he had reaffirmed his love, promising to marry her and make her his second wife.
He categorically told her,
“Forget your husband! He’s a closed chapter!” The woman, who had been married
for over 13 years, with her first child being 13 and the youngest just a
year-old, said that the mere suggestion of the affair filled her with revulsion.She
turned down the offer, but persisted in trying to locate her husband. She
however finally gave up the efforts and went underground when the threat from
mysterious callers became too much. She felt it was sensible to be alive and
take care of her four kids.
It would be recalled that, Bassey, 39, along
with Senator Nwobodo Princewill Eze, 55, Amira Abdallahi 32, Daniel Okpara 30,
Paul Irior 37 and Royal Nwabuike 32, was arrested by SARS operatives for using
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission reflective vests to allegedly rob and
dupe unsuspecting Nigerians.(Read story here )
Nwobodo,
said to be the ring leader, allegedly has houses spread across the nation,
including a hostel in Ambrose Alli University, Edo State. Police said Nwobodo
had been arrested several times for robbery, but always seemed to escape
conviction whenever he was charged to court. Police said that the gang had used
EFCC uniforms, handcuffs and guns to rob bureau de change operators in Abuja
and Lagos State of foreign currencies.
Allegedly recovered from them
were a Bryco 59 pistol with serial no. 930945, with six rounds of 5.56mm live
ammunition, single barrel pistol cut to size with four live cartridges, and
three Toyota Highlander jeeps. The
police alleged that Bassey was charged by SARS with kidnapping in 2012 and
recently arrested for impersonation.
The syndicate was later
charged to court and remanded in prison, awaiting trial. But surprisingly,
Bassey was not among those charged to court. Joy didn’t know what had become of
Bassey, but she said SARS men would know. Joy said that after the gang was
remanded in prison, she went there, but Bassey wasn’t among them.
Joy, who said that her husband used to work as a barman in a hotel in Abuja, wept silently: “Is it the right of the police to pass judgment on any suspect they arrest? They called and were threatening that they would detain me. They usually call me with hidden numbers. They said I should stop coming to SARS to ask for my husband.
Joy, who said that her husband used to work as a barman in a hotel in Abuja, wept silently: “Is it the right of the police to pass judgment on any suspect they arrest? They called and were threatening that they would detain me. They usually call me with hidden numbers. They said I should stop coming to SARS to ask for my husband.
They are doing this to me and
threatening my life because I don’t have anybody.” She recalled that before the
matter was charged to court, she had gone to meet a female friend, to assist
her, so that she could see her husband. The lady’s father is a retired soldier.
The friend’s father directed her to the senior police officer, who was supposed
to be her Good Samaritan, but he ended up making her miserable.
She said: “I went to meet my friend, whose father is a retired soldier. The father said he had somebody in SARS who could be of assistance. He invited the policeman. The supol asked the retired soldier how much I had so that I could settle him. I told him that I didn’t have a dime.
To eat during that period was a problem for me and my kids. He said I should go and look for money. He said that I should call my family. I still told him I didn’t have any money. He now said he would try to assist me anyway he could.”
She said: “I went to meet my friend, whose father is a retired soldier. The father said he had somebody in SARS who could be of assistance. He invited the policeman. The supol asked the retired soldier how much I had so that I could settle him. I told him that I didn’t have a dime.
To eat during that period was a problem for me and my kids. He said I should go and look for money. He said that I should call my family. I still told him I didn’t have any money. He now said he would try to assist me anyway he could.”
When the police officer realized
that Joy truly didn’t have any money to offer, he allegedly decided to get his
‘payment’ in another way. When she poured out her heart to the retired soldier,
disclosing the sexual advances of the policeman, the old military man smiled
and said: “If you don’t have money to pay, you should pay in kind!” Ironically,
the woman still wasn’t allowed to see her husband even while these sexual
negotiations were going on.
She narrated: “The officer
started demanding sex from me. I complained to my friend. She said there was
nothing wrong in having sex with the policeman. She said it didn’t mean
anything to have an affair with the man; she said I wasn’t a kid. She said I
should just embark on the relationship. I said never!
“I thought the policeman wanted to help me. He assisted me when the police wanted to detain me. He made sure they didn’t detain me. “But then he wanted to sleep with me. He said that he wanted to take me as his second wife. How can he want to take me as a second wife?
He detained my husband, called him a criminal! What is he now? Is he not also a criminal? He wants to sleep with a criminal’s wife! If that was the kind of help the policeman wanted to render to me, I didn’t want it!
Let him go to hell with his help! Let the will of God be done!” Remembering how Bassey was arrested, Joy said: “I was in Lagos, while he was in Abuja. He was working there. I went out one day with the kids.
since
“I thought the policeman wanted to help me. He assisted me when the police wanted to detain me. He made sure they didn’t detain me. “But then he wanted to sleep with me. He said that he wanted to take me as his second wife. How can he want to take me as a second wife?
He detained my husband, called him a criminal! What is he now? Is he not also a criminal? He wants to sleep with a criminal’s wife! If that was the kind of help the policeman wanted to render to me, I didn’t want it!
Let him go to hell with his help! Let the will of God be done!” Remembering how Bassey was arrested, Joy said: “I was in Lagos, while he was in Abuja. He was working there. I went out one day with the kids.
since
Another part of help that the
said officer rendered was to go to his superiors, said Joy. She said she didn’t
know what they discussed, but he returned and instructed her to bring Bassey’s
property.
“They said I should bring the things my husband gave me to keep. But my husband didn’t give me anything. They went to ask him, he told them the same thing. He told them that the last money he gave to me, which was N500, 000, was collected from me by him when he was leaving for Abuja,” said Joy. She continued: “They said I should bring my husband’s car. They said Bassey bought the car with the money he made from the businesses they arrested him for. I handed the car over to them. They took the car and said I should keep the landed property..”
“They said I should bring the things my husband gave me to keep. But my husband didn’t give me anything. They went to ask him, he told them the same thing. He told them that the last money he gave to me, which was N500, 000, was collected from me by him when he was leaving for Abuja,” said Joy. She continued: “They said I should bring my husband’s car. They said Bassey bought the car with the money he made from the businesses they arrested him for. I handed the car over to them. They took the car and said I should keep the landed property..”
When Sunday Telegraph
contacted the spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, Mr. Joe Offor, on
Thursday on the matter, he promised to get back to our correspondent. When he
was contacted a second time on Thursday night, he said the officer- in- charge
of SARS was not available. He had not reached our correspondent as at press-time
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