Police Officers in Enugu Involved in Kidnapping

Three police sources in Enugu and another one in Abuja have told Saharareporters that some officers in the Enugu command are involved in kidnapping-for-ransom schemes, but apparently receive protection from unknown senior officers. Saharareporters spoke to the sources in the course of an investigation into the kidnap of one Lotachukwu Nobel Ezeudu, a student at the University of Nigeria (Enugu campus).
 “I can tell you that Sam Chukwu, the DPO in Awkunanaw, Enugu is known to encourage kidnappers and to benefit financially from kidnappings,” said one of the police officers who spoke to us from Enugu. The source added that Mr. Chukwu is directly or indirectly implicated in the kidnap of Lotachukwu Ezeudu. Our source in Abuja also stated that Mr. Chukwu’s association with officers facing armed robbery and kidnapping charges made him a big suspect.   Ezeudu, a second year accountancy student at UNN, disappeared on September 26, 2009. Police investigators told Saharareporters that Ezeudu left the house after telling his parents that he was going to meet Nnaemeka Chukwu, the DPO’s son, and Desmond Ibezimako Chinwuba. According to our sources, the kidnapped student told his parents that Desmond Chinwuba and his brother, Chijioke Chinwuba, wanted him to come out and help them to evaluate a laptop that Desmond was interested in buying.   Our source, who is familiar with the investigation into the case of the missing Lotachukwu Ezeudu, told Saharareporters that the DPO’s son, Nnaemeka Chukwu, stated that he later asked Lotachukwu not to come to his house because he (Nnaemeka) was going elsewhere to watch a football game. However, the source told Saharareporters that the phone records provided by MTN do not show that Nnaemeka placed the alleged call.   Lotachukwu Ezeudu is the only son of Bona Ezeudu, a well-known Nigerian sculptor and painter, and Ngozi Ezeudu. Lotachukwu has not been seen since that fateful day in September 2009 when he told his parents he was going to meet Nnaemeka Chukwu and Desmond Chinwuba Ibezimako. One police source revealed that the Ezeudus received a call demanding a ransom that exceeded one million naira. The source added that, despite the fact that the Ezeudu family paid the ransom demanded by their son’s kidnappers, the young student has neither been released nor have his abductors made any more contact.       One of our police sources stated that DPO Sam Chukwu “has a lot of questions to answer.” Our investigations revealed that Nnaemeka Chukwu, the DPO’s son, and the kidnap victim, Lotachukwu Ezeudu, went to the same secondary school.   One source described DPO Chukwu’s relationship with Desmond Ibezimako and another suspect, Ernest Okeke, as “very troubling.” Both Desmond Ibezimako and Ernest Okeke are former police officers who are being tried for participating in other armed robberies and kidnappings, but both men maintained close relationships with DPO Chukwu and even lived in his house. Ernest is currently in custody in relation to the kidnap of Lotachukwu Ezeudu, but he has refused to confess despite the fact that Lotachukwu’s phone was traced to him during the period he called to negotiate the ransom.   The source disclosed that Desmond Chinwuba “was sacked from the police for his role in another armed robbery and kidnapping case.” He added, “Desmond is facing trial for armed robbery and kidnapping in Court 7 of the Enugu North chief magistrate court. Why did DPO Chukwu allow such a character to live under his roof and to roam around with his son, Nnaemeka? How does a senior police officer like the DPO justify harboring a well-known kidnapper and armed robber? Did the DPO hire the armed robber and kidnapper to train his son? Or was Desmond given shelter because he was carrying out shady deals for the DPO?”   One police officer told Saharareporters that it was well known among their rank that Desmond “is Sam Chukwu’s boy and commits crimes with impunity.” He said Desmond had been linked to kidnapping, robbery and the hijack of oil tanker hijacking, adding that the fugitive former officer was “the brain behind most prominent kidnappings in Enugu.”   One police source told Saharareporters that Nnaemeka Chukwu lied to his circle of friends, including the missing Lotachukwu Ezeudu, that Desmond Ibezimako was his father’s personal assistant.   Several police sources told Saharareporters that DPO Chukwu had been using his contacts within the police to secure the release of the suspects being held in the disappearance of Lotachukwu Ezeudu.   In an interview with Saharareporters, a relative of the Ezeudus wondered why the DPO failed to surrender Desmond to police authorities once he learned that Desmond was a suspect in Lotachukwu Ezeudu’s abduction. Instead, the DPO shielded Desmond who is now a fugitive in some unknown location. A police source said that DPO Chukwu had ensured that Desmond did not make a statement to the police before he absconded. One police source said they had received tips that Desmond may have fled to China or Malaysia with the assistance of DPO Sam Chukwu.    Our police sources also named one Moses Amajor, whose father owns Prosper Hotel in Trans Ekulu, Enugu, as a suspect in Lotachukwu’s disappearance. The source stated that a tracking device that monitored calls from Lotachukwu’s phone led police to believe that the missing student was kept overnight at Prosper Hotel before he was moved to an unknown location.   On March 10, 2010, the police headquarters in Enugu issued a press release declaring both Desmond and Moses Uche Amajor wanted “for the offences of conspiracy, armed robbery and kidnapping” of Lotachukwu Ezeudu.    Our sources said that the Inspector General of Police Ogbonnaya Onovo had ordered the Enugu Police Command to address the matter of the missing Lotachukwu on or before the end of May, but that no results had materialized. “Nothing will happen until the DPO [Chukwu] is made to face the music,” added the source.   Contacted by Saharareporters, a tearful relative of the Ezeudus said the parents of the missing accountancy student were still hopeful that Inspector General Onovo’s intervention would result in their son’s safe return to the family. She added that Lotachukwu’s parents had had sleepless nights for months “and they urgently plead with the Presidency, the IG of Police, other security agencies, churches and other well wishers to come to their aid in resolving the nightmare of their son’s kidnap.”                    

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