By Kamsi Anayo, Awka
The family of 30 year old Chinonso Omeh family have cried out for justice over the alleged killing of their son while under police custody at the defunct Awkuzu SARS now renamed State CID Annex2 in Anambra state.
Onyebuchi Omeh, elder brother to Chinonso, who raised the alarm in Onitsha on Wednesday, said his younger brother who operates a car wash centre at Ogbunike former Toll gate in Oyi Local Goverment Area of the state, was arrested on Feb. 4, 2022 at the instance of one Austin Izunnwanne on trumped up charges of threat to life.
He said Chinonso was first detained at Ogidi Police Station before his transfer to Awkuzu, but police at Awkuzu denied them access to see him in the cell and even initially denied ever having him in their custody.
He disclosed that after repeated attempts to see the victim at Awkuzu state CID Annex failed, they wrote a petition to the AIG in charge of Zone 13, Ukpo, Anambra state through a lawyer and the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) at Ogidi was summoned who gave a graphic account of how , when and whom he handed Chinonso over to at Awkuzu.
He said when the team from Awkuzu was also summoned to Zone 13 Ukpo, they confessed that Chinonso was in their custody but had died having slumped in their cell and later pronounced dead by a medical doctor.
Onyebuchi disclosed that when they requested to see his corpse, they were taken to a private mortuary and shown the corpse of a 70 years old man in place of their late brother.
He alleged that the police at Awkuzu state CID Annex might have killed his brother and used him for ritual purposes since they cannot produce his corpse.
He said the last time they had appointment with the police team investigating the matter at Zone 13, Ukpo, they were surprised to hear that the two policemen from Awkuzu, the IPO, Michael Nelson and his team leader known as Big Sam who handled their brother’s matter earlier detained over the case have been released.
While calling for justice on the matter, the family insisted that the police should come clean and tell them what happened to their brother and also show them the corpse if he is actually dead.
They also called on various human right bodies to assist them ensure that those involved in the heinous crime don’t escape the wrath of the law.
Zonal Command Police Public Relations Officer, Zone 13, Ukpo, Nkiruka Nwode when contacted said she has not been briefed on the extent of investigation on the matter.
She promised to make enquiries and act accordingly.
