The mother of the accused person, Esther Abaziem, while addressing newsmen on Tuesday at her home town, Izialam in Mgbidi, Imo State said her son was not a member of ESN/ IPOB as was alleged by the police.
The family members of a South-East resident, Ekenedirichukwu Abaziem, have cried out for help after their son was arrested in a raid by the Imo State Police Command and paraded as a member of the Eastern Security Network of the Indigenous People of Biafra (ESN/IPOB).
The mother of the accused person, Esther Abaziem, while addressing newsmen on Tuesday at her home town, Izialam in Mgbidi, Imo State said her son was not a member of ESN/ IPOB as was alleged by the police.
She said, “My son is not a member of IPOB/ESN neither is he an unknown gunman, please release my son, he has not done anything wrong, please release him. I was on my farm when I got the news that my son was shot where he went to buy something, I started crying.”
The operatives of the Imo State Police Command on February 9, announced that it had raided two terror camps, killing three suspected commanders of the Eastern Security Network and arrested nine others in Okwudo, Umuorji in Naba and Oru West Local Government Areas in Imo State.
The State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Micheal Abattam, who confirmed this to newsmen in Owerri, said the operation was carried out on Monday, February 7.
The statement listed the arrested victims as; Ekene Abiaziem age 31 years, M of Mgbidi, Emmanuel Nwabueze M age 58 years of Mgbidi, Ifeanyi Eze M, age 38 years of Mgbdi, Izunna Chukwukezie, male, age 39 years of Okwudo, Ejike Onuabuike m age 44 years of Okwudo, Chukwuebuka Elvis Nkonta male age 27 years of Okwudo, Jerohm Amaiah m 33 years of Okwudo, Chukwuebuka Nwachuk, male, age 23 years of Okwudo and Chimobi Ogbonna m, age 27 years of Awomama.
Also reacting, Mrs. Chinonso Abaziem, a nursing mother and pregnant wife of Ekenedirichukwu Abaziem debunked the claims made by the police, as she stressed that her husband was not a member of ESN.
According to Chinonso, her husband (Ekenedirichukwu) was a bus driver.
She noted that her husband only went out to purchase some items on the said day when he was hit by a stray bullet from careless policemen who were shooting sporadically in the area.
She said, “On February 7, 2022, he only stepped out to buy something when he noticed that there were shootings and he made effort to run but a bullet hit him and since that day that he was arrested, I haven't seen him. We checked all the police stations but we couldn't find him.
“SSS has now accused him of being a member of IPOB. My husband is not an IPOB member neither is he part of the unknown gunmen. He works as a driver, please release my husband.”
She further noted that her husband worked as a bus driver with the Ify and Dan transportation company in Imo State, adding that all efforts by the family to see or communicate with Ekenedirichukwu had been in vain.
Both the wife and mother of the accused person pleaded with the Governor Hope Uzodinma-led government to release the young man, adding that he never associated himself with ESN or IPOB.