Akwa-nord: Man dies following the arrest of his son

The supposed police officers vamoosed, abandoning the arrested young man with handcuffs.

Sixty-year-old Eboki Dombe is no more. He gave up the ghost on Friday, June 19, 2015, following the arrest and handcuffing of his son by two supposed policemen of the anti-robbery unit in Douala.

According to the deceased’s wife, his son, Joseph B., was called on the phone by an unknown man and asked to come to the road since he lives just about 20 metres away.

As he came to the roadside in front of “Pharmacie d’Akwa-nord” in the Akwa-nord neighbourhood of Douala, one of his hands was handcuffed to a pole in front of the pharmacy. He asked what his crime was and the warrant for his arrest, but no answer was given.

The arrest alerted neighbours and Joseph’s father who left the house bare feet, putting on only a pair of shorts. When he demanded what offence his son had committed, one of the officers said he was suspected of stealing a motorbike. The handcuff on his son’s hand, the wife explained, caused her hypertensive husband’s collapse and subsequent death.

Even as he lay on the ground, the policemen insisted on taking the son along. When things got out of hand, they flagged down a taxi and took father and son to the Deido District Hospital. The father gave up the ghost even before the nurses could convey him into the emergency ward.

Following confusion after it was declared that Eboki Dombe was no more, the two anti-robbery officers disappeared, leaving their handcuffs on Joseph’s hands. Not knowing what to do with the handcuffs, Joseph and family members took the remains of their father to the Deido District Hospital Mortuary and later went to the 9th District Police Station where they were thereafter taken to the Judicial Police.

Since no key could open the handcuffs at the Judicial Police, they were taken to the New Bell Prison later in the evening where the handcuffs were removed. He was then returned to the Judicial Police headquarters in Bonanjo, Douala, where he is presently in custody.

The identity of the supposed anti-robbery men is yet to be uncovered as some four boys who showed the policemen Joseph’s family home are on the run. Meanwhile, Judicial Police have opened investigations into the matter.