Anambra State’s capital city of Awka’s citizens have accused the police of murdering their young people in the name of battling cults. On Thursday, they organised a nonviolent demonstration throughout the city, calling for the dismissal of two State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) agents they said were responsible for the murders.
The demonstrators, who came from Ezinaano, Umuokpu, Ezi Awka, Amikwo, and Agulu-Awka, the five communities that make up Awka, expressed anxiety over the recent wave of cult-related homicides in the state capital, particularly among people who had returned from outside.
Chief Richard Onourah, the protesters’ spokesperson, stated that they want to call attention to Mr. Kayode Egbetoku, the Inspector General of Police, and Mr. Adeoye Aderemi, the State Police Commissioner and the public to the atrocities being perpetrated by the police in Awka and its environs.
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He alleged that the two SCID personnel were complicit in the ongoing killings and other criminal activity in the state capital, which alarmed the residents of Awka. He charged them with orchestrating and inciting the violence and undermining the neighbourhood watch programme, which was set up to reduce crime in the city.
He said: “We are asking the IGP and Police Service Commission (PSC) to please remove these police officers because, we, the elders and leaders of the 20 villages that form Awka capital, observe that most of the unholy activities in this town are being aided by the two officers. They are they ones masterminding the acts. They also destabilize our local security outfit, which was established to get rid of criminalities in the city. We are tired of burying our children. We want peace in our town, but we are helpless. Police authority should come to our rescue.”
The police, however, have refuted the accusations and asserted that they had no involvement in any Awka cult-related killings. According to DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), the two officers referenced by the demonstrators were among the security personnel who contributed to the restoration of peace in the city of Awka.
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He added that Mr. Adeoye Aderemi, the state police commissioner, will look into the claims and prepare a report. “We will not be discouraged in our efforts to safeguard people and property in Anambra State,” he declared. To maintain the state’s peaceful environment, the police will keep collaborating with other sister agencies, the state-sponsored Anambra Vigilante Service, community and religious leaders, and other pertinent stakeholders.
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