HURIWA Seeks Unbundling Of Anambra Police

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA), has called for the disbandment of the entire policing architecture in Anambra State and urged the Police Service Commission to set up a judicial panel to investigate the wide-ranging allegations of brutality, murder, kidnapping and other high-profile criminal enterprise allegedly involving the police.

HURIWA, in a statement by its national coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said if found guilty, police officers who are culprits should face murder charges immediately and to forestall another national anti-police brutality protests like the #EndSARS uprising of October 2020.

HURIWA recalled that a man in a viral video, Anierobi was allegedly tortured and forced to confess that he was sent by Senator Ubanesse Igbeke to kidnap Dr Kingsley Emoh a Port Harcourt based staff of Eleme petrochemical company.

HURIWA said it learnt that on January 3, 2023, Igbeke, the senator who represented Anambra North senatorial district, was reportedly verbally invited by the police public relations officer, of Police Zone 13, Ukpo – Dunukofia by Superintendent of Police, Nkeiruka Nwode to the zonal headquarters.

The erstwhile senator reportedly got to Abuja and promptly petitioned the office of the inspector – general of police (IGP) on the 5th of January 2023 over what he ordinarily believed to be threat to life and intimidation.

HURIWA alleged that strangely, it was after the IGP directed investigation into the senator’s petition, that SP Nwode, in what may be interpreted as a belated face-saving ploy officially wrote a letter of invitation to the senator on the 10th of January asking him to report on the 12th of January 2023 which was clear seven days after the threats.

The rights group has therefore tasked the IGP and the Police Service Commission to comprehensively probe the embattled Police public relations officer in Anambra state to ascertain first, why the Police verbally invite anyone, more especially a former well known senator for any matter without disclosing reasons for the invitation?

Second, the rights group is asking the police authority in Abuja and the Police Service Commission to ascertain why the said police spokesmqn allegedly refused to disclose to the former senator the reasons for his invitation? Was the invitation letter she belatedly sent to the senator not a diversionary gimmick to hide the original plot against the senator and an afterthought to camouflage their alleged evil plot against the senator?

HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “We condemn the alleged police brutality and torture of this man Valentine Anierobi by the Anambra state police command linking the same PPRO that was implicated for human organ trafficking allegations and for disappearances of many Igbo youths.

“The man in the video was allegedly tortured and forced to confess that he was sent by senator Ubanesse Igbeke to kidnap Dr Kingsley Emoh a Port Harcourt based staff of Eleme petrochemical company. Dr Emoh has already been reportedly arrested by Force headquarters for allegedly deceiving the police into arresting the man in the video and false information against senator Ubanesse Igbeke.

“The Anambra police scandals must be investigated immediately or the IGP and President Muhammadu Buhari may be risking persistent anti police brutality protests like EndSARS of 2020.”