A Lagos-based businessman, Mr. Williams Nicholas Ejimozor, who reportedly went blind during interrogation by operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS) has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State to come to his assistance as he is fast losing grip of his life.

He made the appeal at the weekend while speaking with newsmen at Ikeja. According to him, his life has been shattered as a result of the illegal arrest, detention and alleged brutalisation by DSS officials for offences he did not commit.

The Rivers born Ejimozor, who is Chief Executive Officer of Willtracko Merchant Limited, a freight forwarding firm, said his problem began on May 9, 2014 when about nine DSS officers came to arrest him. The operatives were said to have stormed into his business premises by jumping through the fence and ransacking his office searching for what he did not know.

He said at the end of the search, the operatives displayed 53 pieces of fake dollar notes, which he said was beyond his comprehension. He was subsequently asked under duress to sign a document affirming that the fake dollar notes were found in his office. Since he did not keep such dollar notes in his office, he reportedly refused to sign the document.

His refusal to sign the document was used as an excuse to brutally assault him. He was beaten and taken to DSS office at Shangisha. Determined not to cowardly implicate himself, the freight forwarder who is also a pastor and author stood his ground declining to get out of the hook of the security agents simply by telling lies in his statement.

Based on his uncompromising stance, Ejimozor said he received no fewer than 50 slaps while undergoing torture. “They used gun butt to brutalise me, hitting my head repeatedly and telling me that the only way they could leave me was for me to settle them with the sum of N15 million since I was not ready to write my statement how they wanted it.”

After 25 days in the DSS custody, Ejimozor was moved to the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) of the Nigeria Police Force, Ikoyi. He was later transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Panti.

The police at Panti preferred some charges against him at Yaba magistrate court where he was granted bail. The prosecutors continuously absented themselves from court and the magistrate subsequently struck the case out for lack of prosecution. (The Guardian)

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