The Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) has distanced itself from a planned protest against police brutality, violence and extortion in Imo State.
The chairman of the PCRC in the state, Bathram Uzodimma, made this known while speaking with newsmen in Owerri on Monday.
The state residents, especially from Ahiazu, Aboh and Ezinihitte Mbaise council areas, have planned a mass protest against police brutality and extortion along the Owerri-Umuahia highway, a corridor to Mbaise.
The protest slated for August 7, 2025, is being planned and convened by Wisdom Anyanwu, a concerned citizen.
Uzodimma said that although the PCRC admits that there is a high level of police brutality reported within the Mbaise axis of the state, the Committee has taken cogent measures to address the worrying situation.
He said that the PCRC leadership had met with the Heads of Security agencies in the state, especially the Army and Police, and assured them that the menace would be tackled head-on.
“While we admit that there is corruption, we must trade with caution, and this is why we are against the protest and have asked the Mbaise people not to honour it.
“We call on the convener, Wisdom Anyanwu, to call off the protest and allow already set mechanisms for addressing the issues to take effect”, he stated.
He assured the Imo people that, by his mandate, no resident would be humiliated by the police under his watch.
He condoled with the families of victims of a recent killing by gunmen in Ideato North area and assured Imo residents that security agencies were committed to ending the menace.
Speaking, the immediate past Chairman of the PCRC in Imo State, Chima Chukwunyere, frowned at reports that police along the Owerri-Umuahia road brutalise youths and forcefully extort money from them.
He reaffirmed the PCRC’s commitment to “ensuring a cordial relationship between the police and the Nigerian public,” and assured that with the steps already taken by the committee, police brutality, extortion, intimidation, and violence would be reduced to their barest minimum.
He called on Imo residents to jettison the protest, which he said could easily be hijacked as the organisers had yet to establish adequate contacts with relevant authorities.
