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October 11, 2023
Okolie had said he was extorted after reporting to the police that a Point of Sale (POS) operator, one Sunday aka Full Bar, fraudulently debited N300,000 from his account without his authorisation.
The Divisional Police Officer of Awgu Police Division of the Enugu Command of Nigerian Police Force, Mr Patrick Eneta, and his divisional crime officer, Kelvin Ugwu, are allegedly searching for a human rights activist, Charles Arukwe, to arrest him for accusing them of extortion in a petition to the state Commissioner of Police.
SaharaReporters reported on Monday that one Mr Ikechukwu Okolie, a native of the Awgu local government area had accused the Awgu Divisional Police Officer and the Divisional Crime Officer of illegally detaining him and extorting N91,000 from him.
Okolie had said he was extorted after reporting to the police that a Point of Sale (POS) operator, one Sunday aka Full Bar, fraudulently debited N300,000 from his account without his authorisation.
However, Arukwe in a petition dated October 3, 2023, titled: "In Re: Willful refusal to investigate crime reports, indiscriminate solicitation of gratifications before investigating any criminal report and deliberate onslaught against one Ekene Charles Arukwe for foiling the excesses in Awgu Divisional Police Station and its officers and men: urgent call for investigation: matters arising as situation deteriorates," accused the DPO and his DCO of extortion.
In the petition addressed to the State Commissioner of Police, Kanayo Uzuegbu, Arukwe listed a plethora of cases of extortion of residents with POS by the police officers.
Arukwe, who was also a victim of the extortion activities of the officers, called for an urgent investigation of their excesses and to ensure that all the residents of Awgu community illegally extorted should be refunded.
Meanwhile, the petition did not go down well with the accused officers, as they are now searching for the petitioner for arrest.
Arukwe told SaharaReporters that the DPO had sent his men to his house to arrest him and they had been laying siege in his village since Monday night to arrest him.
According to him, sources had told him that the DPO had secured a court order to arrest him for alleged force accusation.
According to him, "Five policemen have been laying siege in my village to arrest me since 1 a.m. this Tuesday. Thank God that I got the information and left the community last night. A police officer from the station who was not happy over their corruption had told me on Monday that the accused officers had procured a warrant of arrest from a Magistrate Court in Awgu to arrest me on sundry issues which the officer had not disclosed yet.
"As I speak to you I am hidden somewhere in the bush. I didn't know what was going on, but if you didn't hear from me again hold the DPO and his men responsible."
The petition under the Concerned Citizens of Nigeria Resident in Awgu, Enugu State, signed by Arukwe, said that the extortion in the division has become a recurrent decimal, in every Divisional.
Part of the petition read: "As the citizens referred above, our attention has been drawn to a series of letters including one with tracking number CRU 335381 to the Police Complaint Response Unit, Force Headquarters, Abuja.
"In what has earnestly become a recurrent decimal, every Divisional Police Officer posted to Awgu Divisional Police Station would appear to have been tutored by the base men of the Station in the like of Insp Uchenna Ozoude, ASP Oke Vincent Ezea, and the DCO Sp Ugwu Kelvin to indiscriminately order and/or permit the repeated arrest of suspects to make money through bail applications, a suspect could be arrested up to two or three times for the same offence for purposes of collecting various sums of money to secure their freedom in the name of granting administrative bails; arraignment is conducted only when the suspect proves stubborn or failed to comply with the agreed amount.
"Successive DPOs have followed the trend and to economize space here when the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), CSP Patrick Enenta was posted to Augu Palice Dion following the posting of Sp. Ijebuanwu Emmanuel to State Headquarters, the new DPO it was revealed, came with his right-hand man, Insp Ugwuoke Augustine, a Police prosecutor who has remained behind after the boss became Area Commander, Agbani because of the huge money they make at Awgu Divisional Police Station.
"Before the year 2022, specifically in February 2021, Mr. Ekene Arukwe went to Awgu Police Station for the release of a key Stone Motorcycle which Vigilante group ceased from Mr Chibuike Okolie who operates it on hire purchase. On each occasion he visited, demanded various sums of money ranging from Fifty Thousand Naira (N50.000.00) to One Hundred Thousand Naira (N100 000.00) were made from him, and the same continued; when he could not give the money, each occasion he visited he was issued Arraignment Notice and he will go to the court on the fixed date without meeting any prosecutor in court. It continued till sometime in December 2022 when he visited and met with Sp Kelvin Ugwu who after demanding that he pay N50,000.00 took him to the DPO.
“The DPO referred them back to Insp Ugwoke Augutine who requested the case file and after uttering all sorts of comments about dealing with Mr Ekene Arukwe for refusing to give them money as well as blocking people who intend to give police money, promised to call him when he is ready.
"On the 23 day of December 2022, Insp Ugwoke Augustine called Mr Arukwe to come to the Police Station and he went along with two of his friends. He was issued with an arraignment notice dated the 23 day of December 2022 to appear in court on the 13 day of January 2023.
"On the said date he went to the Magistrate Court and after the Magistrate interviewed Insp Ugwoke and Mr. Arukwe, and found out that the charge was trumped up and based on false allegations, the Magistrate asked them to go and settle. The various Arraignment Notices issued to Mr Arukwe on the same matter are herein annexed and marked as Appendixes D E F and & dated the 6th day of August 2021 17 day of August 2021 13th day of October 2021 and 23 day of December 2022 respectively."
When SaharaReporters contacted the State Commissioner of Police, Kanayo Uzuegbu on the development, he said "Please I can't attend to this matter now I am in an operation now.