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A family in Bayelsa State is accusing the police of forcing their son at gunpoint to jump into a river where he eventually got drowned.
Joseph Uzoukwu and Christiana Uzoukwu, who are the grandparents of the victim, are suing the Commissioner of Police, Bayelsa State, the Inspector General of Police, and the nation’s Attorney General jointly for N864 million for the alleged murder of Tochukwu Uzoukwu, 25.
The case was first filed at the Federal High Court in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. It was later transferred to the Federal High Court, Calabar, Cross River State, to avoid it starting afresh, when the judge handling it was transferred to Calabar.
The Uzoukwus are also asking the defendants to jointly pay the family N3 million being the “cost” they said they incurred to recover the corpse from the river, the mortuary bills, and other sundry expenses.

The victim’s mother, Christiana Uzoukwu, and four of his siblings are also plaintiffs in the case.
The plaintiffs, according to court documents, said the victim, Mr. Uzoukwu, was arrested on May 11, 2011, at Shell Ramp Water Front, close to Goodluck Jonathan Bridge, in Yenagoa by a police sergeant, Benjamin Ogbuagu, for alleged possession of Indian hemp.