Awkuzu slaughter slab harbours #EndSARS ghost, remains abode of horror

IKENNA OBIANERI writes on the allegations of extra-judicial killings levelled against some officers of the Nigeria Police in Anambra State and also the outcries of human rights groups, residents, victims and their relatives, who are demanding  fairness, and justice in the investigations

ANAMBRA State has bled in the hands of daredevil hoodlums who have been unleashing all manner of mayhem on public facilities.  In the past three weeks, a series of attacks carried out on police stations have left no fewer than 24 persons dead, including civilians and police officers.

The state, apart from grappling with these ‘faceless’ hoodlums, has also been trending in the last few days as a result of allegations of extra-judicial killings, organ harvesting, and torturing levelled against some police officers in the state police command.

This follows allegations published by an online platform, Gistlover, which identified one CSP Patrick Agbazue, the officer-in-charge of the Rapid Response Squad, Awkuzu, in the state command as being a member of a syndicate involved in the alleged kidnappings, torture, and murder of citizens.

Also fingered were an officer of Zone 13 Headquarters, Ukpo-Dunukofia,  and an inspector, who is attached to the RRS in the state, as well as some prominent figures in the state.

The Zone 13 Headquarters, Ukpo, controls Anambra, Enugu, and Ebonyi States police commands, and it is located on the Onitsha-Awka Expressway, the same axis as the dreaded Awkuzu Police Station. Both formations are only a few kilometres away from each other. Anyone visiting there for the first time would think it’s a “car mart” because of the heavy presence of cars parked in the arena on a daily basis, showing how busy that place is.

Before these allegations became the subject of public discourse once again, there have been reported cases of victims allegedly tortured to death, missing, or killed in the dreaded Awkuzu RRS Police Command, also known as the State Criminal Investigation Department Annex, Awkuzu, which used to be the notorious SARS Awkuzu, where numerous human rights atrocities were documented.

After it was converted to SCID Annex, the atrocities of the inglorious days of the notorious SARS were said to have continued to be committed at that concentration camp. This made residents of the state nickname the police facility “The Awkuzu Slaughter Slab,” where no suspect goes in and comes out the same, at most dead.

The Awkuzu is also regarded as the deadliest unit of SARS in Nigeria because of the experiences and eyewitness accounts of several victims and indigenes of the communities who were terrorised and dehumanised by operatives.

The allegations against these indicted officers and others are not new, as they have become a recurring theme; it is just that the current ones came with more damning facts and evidence from insider sources who are believed to have fallen out of favour with the alleged syndicate.

This latest development has been receiving widespread condemnations and outcries in the state as residents and various groups have expressed serious concern, especially regarding the sensitive nature of the matter.

They, therefore, called for thorough investigations on the matter, insisting that it not be swept under the rug like other previous ones.

Apart from the alleged extrajudicial killings, hacking into a suspect’s bank account and withdrawing the suspect’s money allegedly became the hobby of these indicted police officers. They are also accused of allegedly killing suspects in their custody and taking their money.

One of the most recent occurrences of these extra-judicial killings was the alleged death of an accused teenager, Uchenna Okafor, who allegedly died at the Awkuzu SCID detention centre in December 2022, three days after he was arrested over alleged “two fighting.” To date, the circumstances of his death have not been unravelled.

The news of Uchenna’s death at the police facility was made known by  a Twitter user before the state police command, through its spokesman, Tochukwu Ikenga, reacted and said the teenager died when “he fell down after hitting his head on the wall.”

Another notable victim was the cousin of a popular entertainer, Brain Jotter, whose cousin was said to have also fallen victim to these police officers.

Following this development, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, on Saturday announced the setting up of a special investigation panel to investigate the weighty allegations against these senior police officers, a panel that has commenced a full-scale investigation, according to a statement released by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, on Tuesday.

Adejobi stated that the investigators had moved to the scene and sites for an on-site assessment and quickly pointed out that the indicted officers were never arrested or detained. He assured that the Anambra RRS, Awkuzu, would definitely be reorganised and sanitised to suit the present ideologies and administrative styles of the Force leadership in conformity with international best practices.

But the Force spokesman did not state when and where the investigation panel would be sitting, whether in Anambra or Abuja, and did not also state whether victims or family members of these circumstances would be invited to testify.

The state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, while commending the police boss for setting up the special investigation panel, urged members of the public to be patient while awaiting the outcome of the investigations, which is expected soonest.

One of the victims of the police brutality, Chisom Uche, expressed delight in the development, adding that he looked forward to the panel inviting him and other victims or family members of victims who have suffered extra-judicial killings in the state to testify soon.

Uche, a resident of Onitsha, said he was one of those who testified at the #EndSARS panel, and up until now, he and members of his family have yet to receive any favourable response.

He said, “I was also a victim of police brutality in Awkuzu RRS. I had gone to pick up my elder brother, who came back from abroad in 2018, and as we were driving home, we met some police officers who stopped us at Nkwelle Junction, along the Onitsha-Nteje-Awka Expressway.

“After we introduced ourselves, they were not satisfied. They insisted we follow them to the station. Two of them, heavily armed, jumped into our vehicle and took us to the Awkwuzu Police Station, where we were unlawfully detained and stripped of everything we had, including hard currencies.

“We were kept in an underground cell at the Awkuzu police station. We were seriously tortured for three days; our mobile phones were seized, and our family members could not reach us. It was a terrible moment for us.

“If not for luck and the huge money they collected from us and from our account, we would have been killed. It is a long story. It is a good thing that the IG has set up a panel of inquiry to investigate the atrocities of these police officers, and I will file my petition.”

Another victim, a public servant who identified himself as Gilbert Obinwa, a native of Kopo community in Ekwulobia, Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, recounted his ordeal, saying that his 22-year-old son, together with his two friends, was taken by some police officers from Awkuzu in April 2020, and till date, they had not seen those children.

Ndukka Ekene, a resident of Ogidi in Idemili North LGA, said, “Three days after some police officers arrested my junior brother and took him to Awkuzu SARS in 2022 over trumped-up charges, we visited the place and we were told that he had died. We insisted they provide the corpse, but they refused. It was when we involved our lawyer and other people that they went and brought the corpse of an 80-year-old man.

“To date, we haven’t seen our brother or his said corpse. It is a good thing that this investigation is coming, and it is about the first time such will be happening. We are hoping it will be an open panel sitting in Anambra so as to afford victims of the situation the opportunity to testify. If the panel does not hear from victims, then the essence would have been defeated. This is an opportunity to correct the errors in the police system of this state.”

The Press Secretary to the Anambra State governor, Christian Aburime, when contacted on the latest development, said the state government would issue a statement on the matter soon.

When asked about the mode of operation to be adopted by the IG investigation panel, both Adejobi and Ikenga did not respond