Follow Us on Google
By Christopher Oji
For Mrs. Ebere Okonkwo, whose husband was allegedly murdered in the custody of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), State Headquarters, Awka, Anambra State, life will never be the same for her and the entire Okonkwo family, as their breadwinner, Chukwudubem Okonkwo, died without any explanation from the police.
Okonkwo, a member of the Tricycle Owners’ Association of Nigeria, Awka branch, was allegedly murdered in cold blood in the cell, after he was arrested while on duty at Unizik Junction Motor Park, where he worked as a revenue collector.
Ebere said her life, that of her only child, Amanda, who is only 22 months old, and that of her octogenarian father-in-law have been shattered and would never be the same. According to her, she never had a premonition that something sinister would happen to her husband when he was going to work on the faithful day.
“On that fateful day, March 15, 2022, Dubem left home as usual after taking care of some family needs, which he used to do before going to work. I bade him goodbye and my daughter waved at him. If I had any dream or premonition, I would have prevented him from going to work. Well, as fate played tricks on me, I continued with my daily chores as usual, until I received a phone call from one of his friends, who told me that the police stormed the motor park and arrested my darling husband in company with others. I asked what his offence was, but his friend said the police did not explain, as they said he would know when they arrived at the station.
“I was not perturbed, since they said he was arrested by law enforcement agents and not abducted by thugs or kidnappers. Little did I know that it would have been better for him to be abducted by kidnappers, at least, they would have requested for ransom and I would have begged people to assist me with the payment.
“Well, I continued with my work, because I knew that my husband would not be involved in any crime. He was a hardworking man who believed in the law and God. The day later turned to night and he was not released. It was at that juncture that I started contacting people, and we went to the command headquarters and the police did not allow us to see him. The third day after his arrest, he was paraded among other suspects by Commissioner of Police, Anambra State, Echeng Echeng. While he was being paraded, my husband was raising his hands, asking why he was arrested and being paraded like a criminal, but the policemen that were on guard on the parade ground were shouting him down to keep his mouth shut. They took him back to the cell. Anyway, when we collected a copy of the press statement shared by the commissioner of police, his name was not in the press statement. We now started a tortuous journey to see him and know his offence but the police never allowed us to see him. Even when we involved a legal practitioner, the police kept referring us from one police station or department to another.
“After two months since parading Dubem, also known as Aka Omere-ora, I was told that my husband died in the cell. I am now left with our 22-month-old child, Amanda. Why did the police kill my husband in cold blood? I suspect that someone paid the police to kill him.
“Let us assume that he committed any crime, was it right to kill him in the cell without being taken to court and condemned by the court? My husband was killed extra-judicially without trial and this must stop. He must not die in vain.
“We have visited Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Echeng Echeng, Anambra State police public relations officer, Mr. Tochukwu Ikenga, and police formations across the state and no one was able to say the offence that my 48-year-old husband committed. Now that they have assassinated him in the cell, the police will look for a crime to hang on his neck. But even if he committed any crime, was it right to kill him without taking him to the court? I need justice and every Nigerian must stand with me in this fight for justice. I demand explanations for the death of my husband. Why was he murdered?
“That is why I am crying to President Muhammadu Buhari, Inspector-General of Police, Women Affairs Minister and well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on CP Echeng to bring the policemen and those who paid them to murder him to book. I am also appealing to the President to prevail on the IGP to allow us take his body and give him a befitting burial.
“Please, don’t allow my husband to die in vain. He was a good husband, an easy-going and loving husband. He was our breadwinner and that of his octogenarian father. His father has not been briefed about his murder, because the information may send him to his grave. On the fateful day that he was arrested, I did not suspect that anything evil would befall him because I was comfortable that, as a law-abiding person, he would be released after interrogation. I didn’t know that the police had plans to kill him. If he had been kidnapped by gunmen or abducted by hoodlums, I would have been worried, but I thought they said that police are our friends? I don’t understand this country anymore.”
According to the distraught widow, the case was complicated by the fact that Dubem was sighted among suspects paraded at Police Headquarters, Awka, on March 16, but his name was not listed among the suspects in the statement released by Anambra State PPRO, DSP Ikenga.
Ikenga said: “On Tuesday, March 15, 2022, information was received that a cult group had launched an attack on Unizik vigilante group at Miracle Junction, Ifite, Awka.
“Police operatives were mobilised to lay ambush for the gang as they fled from the scene. The effort paid off as the police succeeded in demobilising the gang and recovering a cache of weapons, which included the two AK-47 rifles earlier stolen from the two policemen murdered on December 14, 2021, three pump-action guns, three locally made berretta pistols, one locally made Chief recover pistol, nine AK-47 magazine, two battle axes, assorted ammunition for the firearms above and the Mercedes Benz V-Booth, with registration number Lagos HC 661 AAA, with which the gang was operating was also recovered.
“The leader of the gang, Uchenna Nwobu, aka Anali, was killed, while the other gang member was arrested. Investigation is ongoing aimed at tracking down other members of the gang and establishing the rightful owner of the recovered car.”
Meanwhile, lamenting her inability to locate her husband, Ebere said the police PRO told them her husband was arrested along with some other people but did not disclose his crime. She stressed that her husband was not a cultist, but, rather, a peace-loving man, ever since they married.
The family’s lawyer, S.O. Iwuoba, corroborated Mrs. Okonkwo’s account, saying all efforts to see Okonkwo and know the crime he committed proved abortive.
In a petition to Anambra State Police Commissioner, he said: “We are solicitors to Engr. Felix Ndubiisi, a relative to Mr. Chidubem Okonkwo, who was arrested by policemen from your command and was paraded on March 17, 2022. Since after his parade, the said Okonkwo has not been seen by any member of his family. We, therefore, appeal to you to order the Awkuzu Police Division to grant access to our client and the family members of Okonkwo to see him.”
Police spokesman for the state, Ikenga, when he was confronted that the statement of CP Echeng did not reflect that Okonkwo was killed in police cell. He said: “The suspect was paraded by the Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng Echeng, on the 16th, not 17th, March 2022, at State Criminal Department Office, Awka. The case is still before the commissioner, please.”
