Parents Lament Sons’ Disappearance after Police Arrest

David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka

Four youths who were arrested last year in separate locations in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State are yet to be found.

Parents of the youths, who were in Awka, during a stakeholders meeting of media and civil society groups, under the auspices of Anambra State Police Stakeholders Partnership Forum lamented that one year after their children were arrested by police operatives, they are yet to be found.

The men, Mr. Titus Orji and Gilbert Obinwa lamented that police operatives were also reluctant to help them trace the whereabouts of their children.

Narrating his story, Orji said his son, Jeremiah Chibuzor Orji, a student of Federal Polytechnic, Oko, left his student’s lodge at Oko Community after he received a call at about 9p.m., but never returned.

“This happened on 19 March 2022. He was my only son, and we have looked for him everywhere. Some people in his area told us that some security men carrying guns were seen that night, close to his lodge, forcing him into a white bus.”

Also, Mr. Gilbert Obinwa in his own testimony said: “I was at home on April 24, 2022, when some policemen invaded my compound in Ekwulọbịa and arrested my son. As they were leaving, a boy who was working with my son came in with the Okada man who brought him, and they arrested both of them and left.

“They didn’t tell me what their offence was, or where they were taking them. I have been to every known police station since then looking for them, to no avail.

“We engaged a tracker, who showed that the boys are being kept in a certain location in Nteje community, and we involved the police, but they told us that area is dangerous, and that they won’t go.”

Meanwhile, coordinators of the Anambra State Police Partnership Forum, Mr. Okechukwu Nwanguma and Mr. Chris Azor lamented the activities of some elements in the police.

Nwanguma in his address said: “We are shocked that the crude method of policing, which led to the #EndSARS protest, is still with us. If this continues, what we will see next will make #EndSARS look like a joke.

“We are still aware of the detention of a whistleblower who gave information about the activities of some top police officers in Anambra. As we speak, the whistleblower is in detention, but the officers were not even suspended for investigation to go on, untampered with.”