INVESTIGATE ORGAN HARVEST ALLEGATIONS AGAINST ANAMBRA POLICE—CIVIL SOCIETY ORAGANISATIONS TELL IGP

REPORTER: UCHE NDEKE

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Akali Baba, has been called upon to ensure a thorough investigation into the allegations of organ harvesting and rights violations against some police formations in Anambra State.

The Executive Director, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), Mr. Okechukwu Nwanguma, made the call during an interactive meeting with some members of the Media and Civil Society Organizations under the platform of Anambra Police Stakeholders Partnership Forum in Awka.

According to Mr. Nwanguma, the meeting was aimed at interfacing with family members and relatives of victims, who had suffered alleged abuses by the police in the state.

Some police officers at the Rapid Response Squad Annex, formerly known as SARS Awkuzu, and Zone 13 Headquarters, Ukpo, had been accused to be involved in illegal detention, kidnappings, extrajudicial killings and human organ harvesting by a whistleblower.

Following the allegations, the Inspector General of Police said a panel had been set up to investigate the allegations.

Mr. Nwanguma, however, expressed regret that months after the investigation panel was announced by the Force Public Relations Officer (PRO), Muyiwa Adejobi, nothing had been heard from the panel, a situation which had become a cause of worry for civil society groups.

He noted that the group would like to meet with the IGP investigation team to monitor progress and ensure that the cases of human rights abuse of the citizens were not swept under the carpet.

According to Mr. Nwanguma, probing the matter and making the findings open would go a long way towards assuring the public that police were their friend and that positive lessons had been learnt from the #EndSARS experience.

“It is unfortunate that the things that gave rise to #EndSARS are still happening today. We still have cases of unlawful arrests, illegal detention, extortion and disappearance of people. Here in Anambra, there was a story of organ harvesting by the RRS and serious human rights abuse by Zone 13 Headquarters, Ukpo.

“Sadly, nothing has been heard, and we understand that some of the accused are all back to their duty posts. I want to appreciate the IGP for setting up an investigative panel on the matter, but we are worried by the silence of that committee, we want to meet with them and work with them,” he pointed out.

In a remark, the Coordinator, Police, Stakeholders Partnership Forum (PSPF) in Anambra State, Prince Chris Azor, said the forum was formed to engender greater synergy between the people and the police.

Prince Azor, however, described as worrisome the seeming secrecy and levity with which issues of human rights violations were being treated.

“In recent times we observed worrisome episodes of reported human rights breaches. Among them was a case of death in Awkuzu State CID Annex of a citizen in police custody, Uchenna James Okafor, male, on Thursday 22nd December 2022.

“It was alleged in the tweet that Uchenna James Okafor was arrested for a case of two fighting and taken to the police station. The parents were asked to bring the sum of #150,000.00 to bail him but by the time they got to the station, they were informed that their son had died.

“The spokesman of the Nigerian Police, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi in his reaction asked the Anambra Police spokesperson to look into the matter and report back.

“Anambra Police Command admitted the occurrence and promised to conduct an autopsy into the incident and reveal the cause of Uchenna’s death. Up till this moment nothing has been heard on the matter,” Prince Azor complained.

The Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, for his part, had asked the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice to review all case files handled by the accused police formations, RRS and Zone 13, following the allegations by a blogger.

Meanwhile, some family members and relatives of victims of the alleged abuses, who were present at the meeting, appealed to the civil society to help them to ensure that justice was done and perpetrators of the evil acts brought to book.

EDITED BY CHUKWUBUIKE MADU