Anambra Community Protests Death of Youth in Police Custody

David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka

Some members of Aguleri community in Anambra State have protested the death of a youth of the community, Mr. Chidubem Ezenwa.

The youth was taken into police custody alongside three others three weeks ago after he and his friends were accused of violence in a hotel in the community.

He was, however, said to have died in custody, after alleged to have been tortured by police operatives who arrested him and also being beaten up by fellow inmates in the cell.

Father of the deceased, Mr. Sunday Ezenwa, who spoke to journalists during the protest by members of the community, said his son came back from his base in Asaba, Delta State, to check on his friend who was involved in an accident, but later died.

According to him, “After they were told of the death of his friend, he and his other friends went to a hotel to wait, while the body of their friends was being taken to the mortuary.

“In the process, one of them, while reminiscing on the death of their friend broke a bottle. They later paid for the bottle when the hotel management protested, but the President-General of the community, Ifeanyi Iloakasia, called the police and got them arrested, and in the process, he died.

“Up till now, we have not been told anything about our son, and police have not released his body to us, if assuming he is dead already. We cannot accept that our son is dead. They should release his body to us if he is dead.”

The President-General of the community, Iloakasia, who spoke with THISDAY, however, denied any complicity in the matter, saying he only called in members of the Anambra Vigilante Services (AVG) “when the boys started breaking bottles in the hotel and chasing many people around.

“I was not the one who called in the police, but the DPO told us that the boy and his friend have been on their wanted list for cultism.”

As at the time of filling this report, the state Police Command’s spokesperson, DSP Tochukwu, was yet to react to the alleged withholding of the corpse of the youth.