Concerned residents of the Ekenobizi community in Umukopara town, Umuahia South Local Government of Abia State have pleaded with Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, to intervene in what they called massive harassment and extortion from police officers.
The residents also pleaded with the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone-9 Umuahia, AIG Echeng Echeng and the state’s Commissioner of Police, CP Kenechukwu Onwuemelie to look into the activities of police officers in the said area of Umuahia.
The majority of the residents who spoke to our correspondent anonymously said they had to do so for their safety, as the extortionist, provocative, intimidating and dehumanizing activities of police officers from Umuahia Area Command and Zone-9 along Ekenobizi-Amachara Road calls for serious intervention from police authorities and the state government.
A source who is equally a victim of the illegal police activities in Umuahia lamented that the police have succeeded in chasing the most promising young men from their villages away from their land.
The source said that constant harassment from police officers who have declared some dress codes illegal and other flimsy excuses like putting on good clothes and nice wristwatches is getting to an alarming stage.
He said the police in Umuahia without any restriction, have cooked up what they tagged criminal dress codes and are capitalizing on it to extort innocent youths in broad daylight without anybody asking what they did wrong.
“Abia State Police Command and Zone-9 are not comfortable with the peace we enjoy in Abia. I hope their authorities will caution them now so they can let our youths be.
“The activities of police officers from Umuahia Area Command and even the Central Police Station and Zone-9 must be checked before they push a whole lot of people into a problem.
“What they are doing around the Amachara area and Ekenebozi axis is getting out of hand. Once they see you putting on a necklace, good clothes and good phones, automatically you’re a criminal.
“They don’t mind chasing the person to his early grave provided they can get hold of phones to enable them to extort money from the owner or fabricate all manner of crimes he had committed unknown to him,” the source said.
The source narrated a recent ugly incident at the weekend when police officers had to double cross a tricycle conveying some wedding guests, drag out a young man and started questioning him about his dress.
According to the source, they searched through the young man’s phones, and saw nothing, but insisted he must forget where he was going and follow them to their station. And on his refusal, they created an ugly scene by dragging him on the road like a thief and throwing him into their car.
“On Saturday noon, at Ekenebozi, opposite Methodist Church, a young man heading to a wedding was inside a tricycle and was brutalized, beaten and dragged into police Hilux like a criminal simply because he dressed like a young man from America.
“Despite the protests by women from the community, police ignored them, harassed the young man, searched his phone after seeing nothing, they beat him up and whisked him away.”
Another resident who spoke to our correspondent pleaded with the AIG, CP and Governor to put heads together to see how these officers can be made to stop harassing innocent business people and youths into entertainment.
“Just last week, they saw a man inside a tricycle around Dibus junction near that boundary between Umuabali and Amachara around Umukopara there, they went after him because he has two phones and wore a necklace. Four police officers chased him simply because he dressed well.
“This is exactly how police officers in Umuahia are chasing youths away from the city and people are watching. If you have tattoos, have earrings, dress well, and look good, police officers will come after you.
“They level all manner of accusations against our youths who are into entertainment, extort them simply because they dress well.
“We’re calling on Governor Otti to look into what’s happening at Umukopara Road and see what the police are doing there. The anger of people rising. They’re provoking youths in different villages in this Umuahia. We’re calling on the CP to caution his boy. The Zone-9 and even the CP crack squad are involved in this.
“This issue they’re causing in Umuahia is not going to be good for anybody. These police officers are provoking the people. This is not good for police public relations. I pray they’ll listen and stop this madness before it brews into a problem. Let the Governor look into what police officers are doing in Umuahia before they set this peaceful city on fire.”
When contacted about the situation, ASP Maureen Chinaka, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of Abia State Police Command said that the police need pieces of evidence to act on such matters, as several times such complaints come, they go there without finding anything.
“I have received some related complaints similar to this. When we go there to see what was complained about, we don’t see anything.
“I want you to understand that we cannot act without evidence. Those who see such unlawful acts should send video evidence so that the policemen doing such acts will be traced and disciplined for their actions.
“We can not act without evidence. Reports like this can easily be denied. But with evidence, it can’t be denied.”
