South African Police Raid On Home Of Henry Okah's Wife Turns Deadly

            South African Police Raid On Home Of Henry Okah's Wife Turns Deadly

A Nigerian, Uzoama Joseph, died today when South African police officers raided a home belonging to Azukah, wife of detained Nigerian militant, Henry Okah, claiming to be searching for drugs allegedly belonging to some tenants.

Eye witnesses told SaharaReporters that the police, who were armed with dogs and weapons, unleashed one of their dogs on Uzoama, who ran to the next house. He was arrested and handcuffed, and forced to take them to the location of the drugs in the house.

The witnesses said that when Uzoma hesitated, a police officer took out plastic bags from the trunk of a police car and placed them over his head, perhaps to stop him from screaming.  The handcuffed Uzoma died soon afterwards.

Nigerians in the Turffontein neighborhood told SaharaReporters that it is routine for SA police officers to torture and kill Nigerians in South Africa extra-judicially, and that Uzoama's treatment amounted to torture.

A state pathologist, Dr. Moeng, who examined Uzoama’s body, told independent observers said he found out that there were no injuries except the cuts on the wrists from the handcuffs, which shows that he must have struggled to breathe before he died.

That position was corroborated by Mantha Rapesu, an official with South Africa's Independent Complaints Directorate.  He told SaharaReporters on the phone that he saw wrist only injuries on Uzoama’s body. He said he could not confirm that torture may have been used until post mortem examination has been done.

Police officers at Booysens Police Station in Johannesburg, who were reportedly involved in the "drug-burst" said they can’t  speak about the issue until Monday when their commanders would have been fully briefed.

 Friends and family members of the deceased said that Nigerian consulate officials refused to come to their aid despite repeated calls to the embassy.