Rivers businesswoman hospitalised after alleged brutality by taskforce

A businesswoman in Oyigbo Local Government, Rivers State, has been hospitalised after she was allegedly assaulted by members of a task-force operating under the local government council.

Her husband, Ekweme Egwu, has accused the chairman of the local government of deploying officials who attacked his wife, Ogechi Ekweme, during an enforcement operation on July 2.

Egwu said his wife, who trades in thrift wear and household items, was confronted by members of the council’s task-force over allegations that she had displayed some of her goods along the roadside in contravention of a directive banning roadside trading.

Recounting the incident, Egwu said he was attending to customers at his shop, located almost opposite his wife’s business premises, when a resident rushed to alert him that task-force operatives were assaulting her.

“The local government task force is killing your wife. They are beating her, the man told me,” Egwu said.

He alleged that when he got to the scene, he found a member of the task-force confiscating his wife’s mobile phone.

He said he demanded that it be returned, arguing that public officials carrying out lawful duties should not object to being filmed.

He further alleged that rather than return the phone, the officials descended on him and his wife.

“They all attacked me and my wife, using knives and axes to wound her,” he alleged.

He also claimed that task-force members were armed with knives, axes and firearms.

“These people were carrying knives, axes and guns. Everybody in the town knows the weapons they use,” he said.

According to Egwu, his wife sustained deep cuts on one of her legs during the attack.

he said she was initially taken to a private hospital, which referred her to a government facility because of the severity of the injuries.

The couple subsequently reported the incident at the Divisional Police Headquarters, Oyigbo, where, according to Egwu, they were informed that a complaint had already been lodged against them.

He said the Divisional Crime Officer, after observing the extent of his wife’s injuries, issued them with a police medical report to facilitate her treatment.

Egwu said his wife was eventually admitted to the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, where she is currently receiving treatment.

“She was discharged yesterday, but she has to return every day because there are no bed spaces,” he said.

Beyond the alleged assault, Egwu also accused the local government of sealing his shop, an action he said had denied him access to his business, which is his family’s only source of income.

He demanded for justice, insisting that those responsible for the alleged attack should be held accountable.

Reacting to the allegations, the Chairman of Oyigbo Local Government Area, Akara Okechukwu, confirmed that council officials were at the Egwus’ business premises on the day of the incident.

He lamented that roadside trading has remained a major challenge in the local government and that his administration had expanded the market to accommodate traders and encourage them to relocate from the roadsides.

According to him, many traders initially complied with the directive and moved into the newly created market spaces.

However, he alleged that after he returned for a second term in office, some of them, including Mrs Egwu, resumed trading along the roadside.

He further claimed that he had, on several occasions, appealed to the woman to prevail on members of her traders’ union to vacate the roadside and relocate to the market, but the appeals yielded no result.