A woman, Mrs Janet Alex, has petitioned the inspector-general of police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun over the alleged ongoing orderly room trial of her younger sister, Inspector Charity Agwu, by the Ebonyi State Police Command over the way a baby was taken from an unknown mentally challenged mother.
In the petition, Mrs Alex said that the whereabouts of the baby boy rescued by her sister, Inspector Charity Agwu, in December 2022 and brought to the command headquarters have remained unknown to date.
She noted that her sister was mandated to release the baby to the motherless baby’s home in Nsugbe Street, Abakaliki, where he would be taken care of only for the baby to disappear at the motherless baby’s home.
When contacted, the command police public relations officer, DSP Joshua Ukandu, confirmed Inspector Agwu’s orderly room trial, adding that the matter has yet to be concluded.
Mrs Alex also petitioned the IGP over the continued incarceration of a social critic in the state, Mrs Chinyere Nwele who was arrested by the command and allegedly detained for 22 days now for publishing the disappearance of the baby on her social media handle.
She noted that Mrs Nwele is currently being remanded at the Abakaliki Correctional Centre after she was arraigned in court on two counts of conspiracy and cyberbullying.
Mrs Alex, through her lawyer, Comrade Nwugo Chimere Nwugo, in the petition, said Inspector Charity was on duty when she saw an unknown mentally challenged woman carrying a wrapped thing inside a waterproof bag on December 2022 and approached the woman.
“As a caring mother, she was deeply touched and, in her empathic and kind disposition, requested and pleaded with the mentally challenged woman to release the baby to her, promising to take good care of the baby.
“After much persuasion, she handed over the child to our client’s sister in the presence of passersby and promised to take care of the child pending when contact is established with her family,” Nwugo stated.
He alleged that after rescuing the baby from the woman and taking him to the police clinic for medical attention following the bad health condition of the baby, she insisted that the baby must be under her custody pending when the relatives of the mentally challenged woman would be identified for the collection of the baby.
Nwogho said after much pressure to release the baby; Inspector Agwu insisted that the baby must be taken to the motherless babies’ home for proper care.
She left the baby with the motherless babies’ home and came back the following day to see the baby but was not allowed access to the baby.
Nwogo, in the petition, alleged that the child was after that sold, which prompted Inspector Agwu to express concern on the whereabouts of the child.
“Inspector Agwu was arrested on 27 May 2024 for an orderly room trial and released after the arrest. On 10 June, she was rearrested for the trial and released again.
“Our client informed us that on the 12th day of June, a public holiday known as democracy day, her sister, Inspector Charity Agwu faced another orderly room trial,” Nwogo said.
He further noted that Mrs Chinyere Nwele had, on 7th March 2024, published the disappearance of the baby on her Facebook page and called for a full investigation into the disappearance of the child.
“Mrs. Chinyere Nwele was subsequently arrested by the police over her publication; she had spent 22 days at the police cell from 10th of May 2024 up till 11th June, 2024 when she was arraigned on a two-count charge in HAB/336C/2024 of cybercrime and remanded in the Ebonyi State Correctional Centre now awaiting trial,” Nwugo future alleged.
