#ENDSARS: Name Sgt. Etaga “Hero” of Police Reform in Delta, Group tells Police

The Conference for the Actualization of Human Rights, CAHR on Thursday demanded that the slain Police Officer, Sgt. Stanley Etaga, who was mobbed to death by #ENDSARS protesters on October 8, 2020, be named the “Hero” of the Nigeria Police Reform 2020 in Delta State.

CAHR National Adviser, Comrade Edewor Egedegbe, made the call during a press briefing at the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ Warri Correspondents’ Chapel Secretariat in Warri.

The group also added that the family of the slain Police Officer should be compensated with the sum of thirty million naira (N30,000,000.00) as demonstrated by the Government of Lagos, Anambra, Rivers, and other states for the families of slain officers during the #ENDSARS protest.

The group added that scholarship should be given to the four children of the late gallant officer, Sgt. Stanley Etaga, whose life was cut short while in active service.

The group gave the names of the four children as, “Ejitavwo Stanley Etaga, Sonia Stanley Etaga, Genesis Stanley Etaga, Testimony Stanley Etaga, all minors, from Primary to university levels.”

The group further said that: “The wife of the deceased officer be given favourable employment within the state Civil Service to take care of the well-being of the children left behind by our fallen Hero”.

It noted that the late Sgt. Stanley Etaga was deployed to protect the #ENDSARS protesters at Otovwodo town in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State on 8th of October, 2020.

According to the group, Sgt. Etaga was murdered by the professed #ENDSARS protesters, which he was deployed to protect hence he did not pull the trigger even when it was obvious he was going to die.

“His rifle which was stolen though later recovered with its magazines still fully loaded saves for few missing bullets as reported.

“The above findings go to show the deceased was peaceful and professional in managing the crisis that took his life.

“The group stressed that the peaceful conduct of the slain officer was enough for him to be declared the “Hero” of the Nigeria Police Reform, 2020 as against the silence of the Delta State Government which according to it is deemed to be “deliberate insensitivity to the plight of a citizen.”

The group noted that the family of the slain police officer had through its office petitioned the State Panel on Police brutality and extortion, whereupon the panel declined jurisdiction on the ground that the petition to enforce the right of the slain police officer is outside the scope of the committee/panel.

“To this end, therefore, we call on the Delta State Government to treat this case as a special case by reaching out to the family of the late Sgt. Stanley Etaga, with a view to assuaging their pains in damages as her counterpart states Lagos, Anambra, Rivers and others have demonstrated or on the alternative extend the scope of the panel to accommodate cases of murder involving Police officers.”