The Enugu people, Enugu has called on the Inspector- General of Police and Police Service Commission to call the State Commissioner of Police to order over the abduction and the arraignment of a prominent businessman, Tochukwu Nzekwe (aka Toshel).
Nzekwe, was allegedly arrested under the order of another businessman, Donald over the brutal attack of a truck driver attached to his company by policemen posted to another construction company, Eketeson, for destroying asphalted road still under construction.
Reports said three policemen attached to the construction firm, Eketeson Nig, Ltd, one of the firms undertaking the rehabilitation of roads in Enugu State beat a truck driver working with estate company Toshel Nig, Ltd owned by Nzekwe to coma after he was accused of destroying a part of the road under construction.
The truck driver, Okechukwu Ofor was reportedly beaten and later dumped at the Independence Layout Police Station by the policemen after which they disappeared.
It was learned that some good spirited policemen took him to the police clinic at the State Police headquarters where doctor battled for hours to save his life.
The driver who was still recuperating in hospital alleged that the three policemen were ordered to brutalize him by the managing director of the construction firm, Donald,after which they dumped him at the police station thinking that he would not survive to tell what happened to him.
According to him, the policemen used the butt of their gun and muzzle to hit him in the head, waist, knee joint, and all over his body and when they felt he might not survive the brutality, they carried and dumped him at a police station.
“It was another good officer that took me to the police clinic. Save for the policemen who brought me to the police clinic, I don’t think I would have been alive till today,” he narrated.
However, the case took a dramatic dimension after the MD of the Estate Company, Toshel Nig. Ltd, where the driver works, Mr. Tochukwu Nzekwe petitioned the state Commissioner of Police, Kanayo Uzuegbu, demanding justice for his staff. It was gathered that while efforts were in top gear to resolve the matter, the owner of the company where the truck driver works, Tochukwu Nzekwe was shockingly kidnapped, detained by some people suspected to be policemen and arraigned in court after which he was ordered to be confined in prison custody
According to a statement by the wife of Nzekwe, Nkoli,” my husband was not the one that drove the truck. He only cried out against the brutal and unrestrained attack on the driver through a petition only for him to be kidnapped, detained and arraigned by proxy by the Commissioner of Police in Enugu., Kanayo Uzuegbu.
“My husband told me that he was called by CP Uzuegbu, a day prior to the incident and was assured that the issues surrounding the damaged road and the brutal assault on the truck driver will be resolved. He was told by the owner of the construction firm, Donald Ekete that no further action was needed. However, what happened next revealed a deeply troubling plot.
“ As my husband was leaving the place, he was unaware that he was being tracked by a group of men led by an individual known as “Lion-King,” allegedly identified as an officer from the CP’s office, accompanied by three police officers attached to Mr. Donald security detail. These men, alongside the police officers, illegally detained my husband at Oakland Hotel, where he was lured under the pretense of a business meeting. Once there, he was ambushed, and his phone was forcibly seized to prevent him from contacting his lawyers. He was violently assaulted, handcuffed, and blindfolded.
“As his illegal detention escalated, he was swiftly arraigned before a Magistrate court around 5:20 PM, with three fully armed police officers present in the courtroom, creating an intimidating atmosphere. He was charged for promoting local war. The group, which included Mr. Donald’s personal lawyer, and a police prosecutor, proceeded to take disturbing photos and videos of my husband during the hearing”.
She further alleged that in a shocking twist, the MD of the construction company, Donald,demanded a ransom of N28, 350,000 million for her husband’s release from his unlawful detention saying it is for the police boss.
“He insisted that the money would make it possible for my husband to be released and also gave him an Access bank account details to pay the money.”
According to Nzekwe,the driver was former driver to Eketeson. Who left the company because he was owning him 6months salary and seeing that it was the same boy that he couldn’t pay to work in his company,he used gun to hit him many times and now they want to cover the crime they committed.
I am calling on the IGP and the PSC chairman to wade into the issue and give justice to the victims.
