The vigilantes were allegedly led by the youth president of the community identified as Amaze Chibuke, popularly called Jaguar.
Mrs. Jennifer Johnson, the pregnant housewife of a 33-year-old native doctor in the Obolo area of Mbano in Owerri, Imo State, Bright Johnson, has cried out over the alleged extrajudicial killing of her five-year-old son by vigilantes.
The vigilantes were allegedly led by the youth president of the community identified as Amaze Chibuke, popularly called Jaguar.
Mrs. Johnson, in her petition, addressed to the Director-General of the Department of State Servives (DSS) and the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, also accused the youth president of the community of ordering the shooting of her husband's brother, Okechukwu Johnson and arrest of her husband, Bright Johnson, over undisclosed charges.
While speaking with journalists, Mrs Johnson claimed that Chibuke was involved in a land dispute with her husband.
She alleged that he invaded their home in company with unidentified youths armed with pump-action guns and ordered the shooting of her husband and his younger brother for resisting arrest.
She said, "My husband was shot in the leg and taken away to an undisclosed location for the last four days. His younger brother was shot in the back and my 5-year-old son was shot dead."
Mrs. Johnson, who was in tears, told journalists that after much pressure from family members and her husband’s kinsmen, Chibuke claimed that her husband was detained at the DSS office located at Irete along Onitsha Road in Owerri, Imo State.
She said, "I’m calling on the DG, DSS and the IG of Police to wade into this matter and save my husband from the killer-squad of Amaze Chibuke popularly called Jaguar. The family have attempted to gain access to my husband several times but the DSS officials have refused. I want to know if my husband is still alive or not. He does not even know that his son has been shot dead.
"My husband is innocent. This is case of disputed family land that is being used to hunt my husband."
She recalled that trouble started when some unidentified men on November 9, 2024 accosted her close to Amanaku market in Obolo while on her way back from an errand. She said the men ordered her into a car along with her five-year-old son while conducting a police raid.
She said, "When I entered, I noticed that there was a man already in the vehicle tied like a suspect. I was crying that I’m a married woman and innocent. They however started beating the man tied in the vehicle over his plea that they should let me and my son go.
"The three men in the vehicle were on mask and I feared that we have been kidnapped. But when they moved about 10 minutes, they stopped suddenly and asked us to go into the bush. They were being chased by eyewitnesses who observed how they pushed me into their vehicle.
“I was pleading that they should please allow me go. One of the masked men now ordered that we (the three of us – the man we met in the vehicle, my son and I) should be shot but another countered the order and said they should let us go.
"I held onto my son and ran off in the right, while the man ran the other way. On my way back home, the community people stopped me and asked me to come and identify the man that escaped from our abductor's vehicle. I identified him as the person that was pushed out from the vehicle with us. But it seems they refused to agree.
"When I got home, I told my husband what happened and he immediately went to the police station to report. My husband asked the police to come with him to the scene to avoid the mob applying jungle justice to kill an innocent man. But the police on duty expressed fear due to the lateness of the night."
Mrs Johnson said a said few days after the incident, “some youths of the community came to our house and accused my husband of alleged involvement in my attempted kidnap and abduction of a Rev. Father in Owerri”.
She said, "I was shocked. They claimed the man that was pushed out from the vehicle by those that tried to abduct me fingered my husband. They said the man changed his story and indicted my husband. We later gathered that the man was tied up in a self-styled prison built by Jaguar and compelled to implicate my husband.
"All attempts to get his lawyer to intervene failed as the lawyer, whose office is located along Isiala-Mbano area was compromised and working for the accused youth president. The compromised lawyer collected a million naira from my husband and later demanded for five million to ‘settle the matter’. We refused and reported the matter to Imo State Police headquarters.
"Jaguar later declared my husband wanted dead or alive over matters to be handled by the police. We later reported to the police. The police invited Jaguar and detained him for declaring my husband wanted. But he got bail after some powerful individuals reached out.
"At the police headquarters under the IPO identified as Umeh, both parties were invited on the 24th of December, 2024. But Jaguar failed to show up and the IPO gave another date.
"Three days ago, on the 26th of December, 2024, the youth president of the community, Amaze Chibuke, popularly called Jaguar came to the house with five men in mufti and armed with pump-action guns to arrest my husband over alleged involvement in my kidnapping and that of one Reverend Father in Owerri.
"I held unto Jaguar crying, saying that he should leave my husband alone. My husband's younger brother was also arguing with them not to take my brother away. The next thing I heard was Jaguar ordering that they should open fire. They shot my husband in the leg, shot my husband's brother in the back and my five-year-old son, got shot in the head and died.
"My father-in-law rushed out and demanded from Jaguar why he ordered them to shoot, he said the death of my son is not his business. And that we should go to the DSS office to see my husband. We have been to DSS but no way. We don't even know if he is alive.
"I’m calling on the DSS DG and the Police IG to intervene and save my husband. Jaguar has killed my son and I don't want to lose my husband too. They should let us know the whereabouts of my husband and investigate these incidents. My husband is innocent. This is case of disputed family land that is being used to haunt my husband."
When SaharaReporters reached out to Chibuke for his reaction to the allegations, he declined to make any comment.
When contacted by SaharaReporters, he briefly answered the phone, listened to the questions posed to him, and then abruptly ended the call, subsequently turning off his mobile phone.
But the Police Public Relations Officer of the state police command, ASP Henry Okoye, said he was not aware of the incident. He, however, vowed to get to the root of the matter.
"I am not aware of this matter; you are just informing me now. But one thing I can assure you is that I’m going to take it up,” he said.
“This is a criminal case that must not be swept under the carpet and I'm pretty sure that the commissioner of police is going to do everything possible within the law to ensure that the victims get the justice they deserve in this case, if the things you told me are true.
"I’m going to monitor this case closely and ensure that it is not compromised. It is something that will not be tolerated."
Follow the Sahara Reporters channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaFClvtH5JM6SSsP7M2Y