The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, has asked the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, to speed up the investigation into the allegations against some senior police officers serving at the Zone 13 Command, Ukpo-Dunukofia, and the Anambra State Police Command.
This follows allegations published by a blog, Gistlover, identifying one CSP Patrick Agbazue, the officer-in-charge of the Rapid Response Squad in the command, as being a member of a syndicate involved in the alleged kidnapping, torture and murder of citizens.
The Public Relations Officer of Zone 13 Headquarters, Ukpo-Dunukofia, SP Nwode Nkeiruka, and Inspector Harrison Akama, who is attached to the RRS in the state, were also fingered, as well as a former governor of the state and a popular billionaire.
The blog, which shared details of alleged conversations between the officers and their victims, further claimed that they might have been involved in high-level extrajudicial killings, fraud and organ harvesting.
It was claimed that the policemen were behind the kidnapping and strangling of a cousin to a comedian, Chukwuebuka Emmanuel (Brain Jotter), and that after her death, her phone was used to scam her family of N1.2m.
Sharing the photo of one of the accused cops, Gistlover alleged, “Brain Jotter’s cousin was missing and was rumoured to be kidnapped. Unfortunately, she was not kidnapped. These daredevils carried her and transferred N1.2m from her account and strangled her.
“They took her phone and were chatting with her family members, pretending to be kidnappers.”
On Friday, the IG set up a special investigation team to probe the allegations, stressing that the police would “leave no stone unturned in ensuring that justice is done in the case and sanctions meted to any officers found guilty accordingly.”
A statement by the Force spokesman, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said, “The IG has set up a special investigation panel under the IG’s Monitoring and Mentoring Unit to commence investigations into some weighty allegations of unprofessionalism, high-handedness and extrajudicial killings levelled against some officers serving at the Zone 13 Command, Ukpo-Dunukofia, and the Anambra State Command on social media platforms.
“This was on the directive of the IG for the commencement of investigations to ascertain the veracity of the allegations for further necessary action, while the panel has been given a period of two weeks to come up with a report of the investigations.”
Commenting on the matter, the spokesman for Ohanaeze, Chief Alex Ogbonnia, urged the IG to do a thorough job.
“All I have to say is that the matter should be well investigated. I am glad that the IG has taken up the case, and I urge him to do a thorough job,” Ogbonnia said in an interview with Sunday PUNCH.
Also speaking, a social commentator and lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Dr Ugwueze Ikechukwu, said no one, including the big actors in the case, should go unpunished if found guilty.
He stated, “It is a good thing that the police have agreed that they will investigate the matter. The problem with Nigeria is that there are many untouchable actors and there is a lot of haphazard approach to police investigation, which results in many criminals going free.
“I encourage the police to eschew all forms of sentiments and do their job to a logical conclusion.”
