Ismail Abdulazeez Mantu Reporting
Tragedy turned into outrage in Calabar as Victoria Mba, mother of 22-year-old Moses Mba, who was allegedly beaten and shot by policemen attached to the residence of Cross River State Governor, Bassey Otu, has rejected a N5 million offer made to her family by government representatives.
Truth Live News gathered from Punch News that Mrs Mba insisted that no financial gesture could replace her son or silence her demand for justice.
“They brought N5m. We rejected it. Is the value of my son’s life N5m? They said it was a condolence visit, but I don’t know where condolence is done with money in that way. I want justice, not money,” she declared.
Moses, the family’s first son, was reportedly shot on August 1 after he approached the governor’s residence. According to his mother, he had expressed his intention to “preach to the governor” before he was accosted by security operatives.
“Is it a crime if somebody goes to a gate? They could have sent him away or kept him until they reached his parents. Instead, they beat him and shot him in the leg. That’s how they ended my son’s life,” Mba recounted tearfully.
The victim spent eight days in hospital under surveillance of plainclothes officers before his death. His family has since demanded an autopsy to determine whether his passing was due solely to the gunshot or compounded by assault.
“They think we are stupid. They think they can silence me with money. My son was my first child, my pride, the one his siblings looked up to. I will not be silenced,” she insisted.
When contacted, the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Linus Obogo, maintained that the N5m was not a bribe but a gesture of sympathy to aid burial arrangements. He added that Governor Otu had condemned the incident and ordered a police investigation.
The Cross River State Police Command also confirmed that an investigation was ongoing. Police spokesperson, Igri Ewa, assured the public that “the outcome will be made known,” stressing that the officer involved was already facing disciplinary action.
Civil society organizations have joined the call for accountability. Debo Adeniran, President of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, condemned the killing as an extrajudicial violation of the right to life. Similarly, John Umeh, South-South Zonal Director of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, described the act as “reprehensible.”
For Victoria Mba, however, the fight has become deeply personal:
“I have lost my investment, my identity. But I want his death to mean something. If they think N5m will buy our silence, they don’t know me. I want justice for Moses.”