How police tortured my husband to death, by mother of two

A mother of two, Mrs. Promise Ani has asked the Inspector General of Police to investigate the alleged torture of her husband, Ikechukwu by the anti-cult unit of the Enugu State police command.

Ikechukwu, a trader at Ogbete main market, Enugu, died on Sunday January 13, this year at an undisclosed hospital, two days after his release following alleged injuries he received while in police custody.

He was said to have been forcefully arrested at about 2.am on January 6, this year at his residence in Obeagu- Awkunanaw, Enugu south council by men of the anti-cult unit, who smashed doors of their building and allegedly whisked him away.

Narrating the incident, his pregnant wife, Promise, explained that it had to do with an allegation bothering on threat to life, said to have been made by the late husband against a police officer.

“My husband never issued such threat. They leveled the allegation to deal with him. Unfortunately, it has resulted to her death”, Promise said amid tears, at their residence in Obeagu- Awkunanaw.

She said in the event of investigation revealing that her late husband issued the threat; it was “not enough for policemen to torture him for four days without food in their cell”.

She added: “When they released him to us, he was already looking frail and could barely talk. But he told me that they used nails on his head and chest. He also said that for four days, he was starved of food; as they could not allow us feed him.

She alleged that since her husband died, the police had made monetary advances to the family; persuade them to bury him, adding however that they refused “as doing so will bury the evidence against the police.”

“Right now we have been moving the corps from one mortuary to the other to avoid tampering with his body which shows clear evidences of the level of torture they subjected him to”, she stated

In a petition to the Inspector General of Police, the family of the deceased had appealed for a thorough investigation of the activities of anti-cult unit in Enugu. The family alleged that it was a case of extra-judicial killing and also appealed for the investigation of alleged bribe the family offered the police before the late Ani was released to the family.

Reacting on the development, Enugu State Police Public Relations Officer, Ebere Amaraizu said although the matter had not officially been brought to his knowledge, it would be investigated.

“We can’t throw it to the wind, we would find out what happened. We will check the circumstance and I can assure you that whoever is indicted will not go unpunished. It is a very unfortunate incidence, the CP doesn’t condone such act,” Amaraizu said.