There was so much drama this morning at the police station in Bonny, Rivers State as a police team allegedly bundled a sick old woman into their van in the rain while attempting to arrest and take her to Abuja.

The heavily armed police team were said to have arrived from Force Headquarters, Abuja on the orders of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, to arrest the old woman said to be in a critical health condition over an alleged family squabble.

To get to Abuja from Bonny, headquarters of Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State, the police team and their quarry would have to travel by sea on a one hour boat ride to Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, from where they would either do a 45 minutes flight or a seven hours road trip to Abuja.

The aged woman, Margaret Dagoari, who was detained despite her health condition, was said to have suffered a bout of coughing that lasted through the night inside the cell.

Eyewitnesses told Kristina Reports that the hapless Dagoari began throwing up and later fainted and had to be resuscitated after she was brought out of the cell in the early hours of today.  

Kristina Reports further learnt that given her rapidly worsening condition, an unnamed senior police officer of the Bonny Division had to order that she should be taken to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Zonal Hospital, Bonny, where a doctor attended to her.

The doctor on duty (name withheld) advised against exposing her to further stress as, according to him, her condition was aggravated by the stress she was subjected to in the course being allegedly manhandled.

When Kristina Reports contacted him, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) Of Bonny Division, CSP Shuaib Achigili confirmed that the police team were from Force Headquarters, Abuja and had incidented their presence when they arrived yesterday but had no details as to their mission.

But a police source, who preferred anonymity, disclaimed the position of the Dagoari family, stating that the police team from Force Headquarters, Abuja, was in Bonny to effect the arrest of some suspects named in a petition to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, over a family dispute.

According to the source, all necessary protocols were complied with by the team, revealing that upon arresting the woman in question, the team detained her in the station and was to take her to Abuja this morning but due to her health condition which began to deteriorate early this morning she had to be taken to the Zonal Hospital, Bonny, where she was attended to.  

Responding to Kristina Reports enquiry, Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Frank Mba promised to action on the matter as soon as possible.

A member of the family, who spoke to Kristina Reports on condition of anonymity, condemned the action of the Abuja police team, saying, “You can imagine what they did to our aunty, even their colleagues here in Bonny were angry with them. How can they come into a community and attempt to kill an old woman, all in the name of arrest?”

“If they take her to the Abuja they are talking about will they care for her there? Will they feed and clothe her and also bring her back? What about her health condition? Her doctor had warned months ago as you can see in her medical report that she should not travel at all as it would affect her health.”

“Inspite of this, they still dragged her away, detained her in a cold floor cell, even when the Bonny policemen were warning them, they were adamant. Is this right?”

The sick Margaret Dagoari is said to be currently admitted at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Zonal Hospital, Bonny where frantic efforts were being made to stabilize her.

Kristina Reports will closely monitor the development and update on the go.