By Ikeugonna Eleke
The family of Obiorah of Enugwu -Aguleri in Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State has protested the death of their son in police custody, announcing their intention to seek redress in court. Their son, Ebuka Obiorah, had died in police cell, at the dreaded Awkuzu Police Station, which was formally known as Awkuzu SARS.
The late Ebuka had been arrested in his village in a case of mistaken identity. His brother, Maduka Obiorah, said the family did not even know that Ebuka was in detention at Otuocha Police Station, until a friend who was released from the station informed them.
He said: ‘I visited my brother at Otuocha Police Station before he was transferred to Awkuzu Police Station, and 24 hours later, the police said he died inside the cell.
‘I went to see him on Friday with a lawyer, but couldn’t secure his bail and I repeated on Saturday. When I went to see him on Sunday, he was dead.
‘Ebuka was living at 3.3 Onitsha and he informed me that he would come home to perform some family ceremonies, being the eldest of six children, having lost our father in 2014.
‘After his visit to the village, he later went to his in-laws’ place and told me he would spend the night there from where he would return to his base.
‘For three days, there was no communication and we thought that he was already in Onitsha, not knowing that he was framed up and detained at Otuocha Police Station following a mistaken identity.
‘It was later that one of his friends who was detained by the police at Otuocha came to inform us that Ebuka was being detained and that he did not commit any offence.
‘That his friend told me that my brother pleaded with the police to allow him make a phone call to inform his family that he was being detained, but the police refused. His phone got missing immediately he was arrested and that phone has been off ever since.
‘My brother was arrested in his house. The DPO told me that the person they were looking for is Obiorah Mighty and not Ebuka Obiorah and that it was an informant that mistakenly pointed at my brother.
‘It was unfortunate that my brother died for an offence he did not commit.’
He said the family would stop at nothing to pursue the death of their brother.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the Anambra State Police Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, said no such report was on his table. He promised to get back to the press after enquiry, but as at the time of filing this report, no reply had been gotten.
