Many residents of Enugu, the capital of Enugu State, are reportedly in a state of panic after police authorities in Abuja allowed a senior police officer with known ties to a gang of kidnappers to return to the city. Inspector General Ogbonnaya Onovo had summoned Sam Chukwu, a Divisional Police Officer (DPO), to Abuja after Saharareporters detailed the officer’s role as the sponsor of a ring of kidnappers in the city.
But after a few days of what a police source described as “soft questioning,” Mr. Chukwu was allowed to return to Enugu where he has established a reputation as a murderer for hire as well as the godfather of kidnappers.
A source within the Inspector General’s office told our correspondent that Senator Ike Ekweremadu, the deputy Senate President, applied pressure at the highest level to secure DPO Chukwu’s release. The senator and Chukwu hail from the same Awgu community.
“You people reported that DPO Chukwu enjoys the strong protection of Senator Ekweremadu,” said our source, adding, “That report is accurate.”
A businessman in Enugu told Saharareporters that DPO Chukwu’s return to the city menaced by his band of kidnappers would have a chilling effect. “Up to four or five people are kidnapped in Enugu everyday,” said the businessman, adding, “Even when they kidnap people in other places, they often bring the victims to Enugu where the ransom is paid. Enugu will remain very, very safe for kidnappers to operate as long as the likes of DPO Sam Chukwu are roaming free.”
Several sources, among them police officers who are irate that the IG of Police has done little to stem kidnapping in Enugu and throughout the southeast, told us that most victims do not file reports with the police. “Many kidnap victims and their families are warned not to report and they are scared of loosing their loved ones,” said one source.
Since our initial expose on DPO Chukwu, several police officers have sent us anonymous tips about his notorious activities. “The big men in Abuja know very well what this man is doing, but they are doing nothing,” said one officer, adding that numerous officers “who have the fear of God are not speaking out because they believe that the DPO is untouchable.”
DPO Chukwu’s atrocities came to light in the unresolved kidnap case of Lotachukwu (Lota) Ezeudu, a second year accountancy student at the University of Nigeria (Enugu campus). Lota Ezeudu was kidnapped on September 26, 2009 after Nnaemeka Chukwu, the DPO’s son, asked him to come out and help one Desmond Ibezimako Chinwuba to purchase a laptop. Nnaemeka Chukwu and Lota Ezeudu were classmates in secondary school.
Desmond Chinwuba, a former police officer who was fired for his involvement in a prior armed robbery and kidnap case, was living in DPO Chukwu’s house at the time that Lota Ezeudu was lured out to the DPO’s home ostensibly to assist Desmond in inspecting a laptop.
Our investigations revealed that Desmond Chinwuba and Ernest Okeke, another sacked police officer, were part of a kidnapping ring controlled by DPO Chukwu. Both Ernest Okeke and Nnaemeka Chukwu are being held in the disappearance of Lota Ezeudu. However, Desmond Chinwuba, who was standing trial along with Okeke in a prior armed robbery and kidnap case, is on the run.
One Enugu-based lawyer told Saharareporters that pressure was put on the magistrate trying Chinwuba and Okeke to grant them bail, even though “the crimes they were accused of are not bailable.” The lawyer added that it was curious that no witnesses were bold enough to appear and testify against Desmond and Ernest. He said it was likely that witnesses were “threatened with dire consequences if they come out to testify,” adding that police authorities in Abuja have a duty to investigate how two officers involved in serious crime ended up living under the DPO’s roofs.
Several police officers told us that DPO Chukwu’s gangs specialized in ambushing tanker drivers conveying fuel products from Port Harcourt to Enugu. One source disclosed that the drivers were often killed and that Chukwu’s gangs then sold the fuel to NOWAS, a fuel dealership owned by Ignatius Nnubia. “After selling the fuel to NOWAS, the gang will then abandon the tankers on the expressway. The trial of Desmond and Okeke are linked to their hijack of petroleum products.
Nnubia, the chief executive of NOWAS, is widely regarded in Enugu as a criminal element, according to several sources who spoke to us. Mr. Nnubia was arrested along with other suspects for involvement in the 2008 kidnap of Francis Edemobi, a doctor and younger brother of Information Minister Dora Akunyili. The trial of Nnubia and other suspects has been stalled due to the failure of police to provide witnesses in the case.
“It was when Chukwu was the DPO in Ogui Road that he became a very good friend and petroleum supplier to Dr. Nnubia,” said a police source, adding that Chukwu played a strong role in frustrating Nnubia’s ongoing trial.
Asked if IG Onovo was aware of Chukwu’s criminal activities, one of the officers said, “Ah ah, Oga must know now,” adding that DPO Chukwu is known to be very wealthy and to own several properties in Enugu, including a huge block of flats on Ukwulu Street in Trans Ekulu. “Everybody in Enugu knows how he gets his money,” said another source.
DPO Chukwu’s criminal activities include murder-for-hire, according to several sources. In August 2005, DPO Chukwu authorized the murder of two young men, Chiedu Ani and Chinedu Nwoye, along Ogui Road, Enugu. Chukwu ordered the men executed in cold blood after receiving a report from Mr. U.S.A Igwesi, a member of the House of Representatives, that the two young men had hustled him for money.
The cold-blooded assassination of the two men provoked mass protests in Enugu and forced then Governor Chimaroke Nnamani to institute a probe panel headed by Justice Ken Ezeike. Our sources revealed that Senator Ekweremadu and other top politicians who use DPO Chukwu to intimidate their political opponents prevailed on then Gov. Nnamani to sweep the report under the carpet.
One police officer in Enugu wondered why the authorities in Abuja seem prepared to drag the name of the entire police command in the mud in the name of saving Chukwu from prosecution for his crimes. The officer said that it was curious that the IG would order the arrest of Evans Egbe, an Assistant Commissioner Police in Abia State, for his allegedly masterminding kidnapping in Abia, but Chukwu was allowed to return to Enugu a free man.
A businessman added that the new commissioner of police, just sent to Enugu, is unlikely to make a difference “unless all bad eggs like Sam Chukwu are removed and charged to court.” He regretted that the state’s legislative delegation in Abuja want people like Chukwu at his post to help them steal elections and harass opponents. “A group of us are meeting and discussing ways of reaching President Jonathan so that he is made aware of what we are suffering in this city,” he added.
Another police source stated that the investigation into Lota Ezeudu’s kidnap may not be resolved until DPO Chukwu is forced to account for his role.
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