Community protests death of Youth in Police custody due to alleged torture
The death of one Chidubem Ezenwa in a police station has triggered a violent protest in Aguleri community, Anambra State.
According to reports, the police recently arrested the young man alongside three others over alleged violent conducts in a hotel within the community.
But the young reportedly died afterwards in the police custody after he was allegedly tortured by the police operatives who arrested him.
As a demonstration of their anger over the man’s death, some youths of the community reportedly staged a violent protest, demanding that justice must be served to those behind the murder.
The father of the deceased, Mr Sunday Ezenwa, who spoke to journalists during the protest, said his son came back from his base in Asaba, Delta State, to check on his friend who was involved in an accident when the police arrested him.
“After they were told of the death of his friend, he and his other friends went to a hotel to wait, while the body of their friend was being taken to the mortuary.
“In the process, one of them while reminiscing on the death of their friend broke a bottle. They later paid for the bottle when the hotel management protested, but the president general of the community, Ifeanyi Iloakasia, called in the police and got them arrested, and in the process, while in police detention, he died.
“Up till now, we have not been told anything about our son, and police have not released his body to us, if assuming he is dead already. We cannot accept that our son is dead. They should release his body to us if he is dead,” he said.
But Iloakasia who spoke with journalists, said he only called in members of the Anambra Vigilante Services (AVG) when the boys started breaking bottles in the hotel and chasing people around.
“I was not the one that called in the police, but the DPO told us that the boy and his friend have been on their wanted list for cultism,” he stated.
The state police command’s spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, who confirmed the incident, said the victim was killed by a fellow suspect.
He said the victim was arrested for armed robbery and the person who murdered him also was arrested for armed robbery.
