Police Urged to Investigate Alleged Killing of Man for Stealing Noodles in Anambra

David-Chyddy Eleke

Some members of Enugwu village in Nanka community of Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State, have called on the Force Criminal Investigation Department  (FCID) Enugu Annex to investigate the alleged killing of a youth of the village, Mr. Toochukwu Onyemelukwe.

Concerned members of the community, speaking under the aegis of Enugwu Nanka Village Development Union said the youth was killed last year on allegation of stealing noodles and tea, and may have been tortured to death by some persons who constituted themselves into village security.

Secretary General of Enugwu Nanka Village Development Union, Mr. Godson Ofokansi, who spoke to THISDAY in Awka said since the death of Onyemelukwe last year, the community has been working to get justice for him, and has also petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba.

“We have written several petitions to police, urging them to investigate the matter, to ascertain the truth behind the death of the youth, but no such petition has
been allowed to move after approval.

“We are happy that recently, the Inspector General of Police, was gracious enough to assign the matter to FCID, Enugu Annex to investigate it. It is the duty of the State to protect the life of her citizens.  No life can be taken away save in a manner justified by law.

“We are therefore, calling on the Enugu Annex of the FCID to step in and investigate the death of Tochukwu Onyemelukwe. We believe that getting to the root of the death of this youth will help stop further deaths in our beloved community.

“There have previously been killings in Nanka, and we are suspecting that most of the people have been killed in the same manner, and their deaths have been covered up. Onyemelukwe was deposited in the mortuary without any formal report to police about the murder, and there were plans to conduct an autopsy on him to ascertain the cause of his death, but all of a sudden, some people forcefully took away the corpse and buried him in the midnight, simply to block the evidence from the autopsy. We suspect that his body may have even been tampered with. But we do not want to mention names, rather, we are only calling on the police to conduct its investigation and make its findings public,” Ofokansi said.