SPORTS ARTS & LIFE Lota Ezeudu Kidnap Latest:
Prosecute DPO Chukwu, Justice
Ministry Urges
October 4, 2010 - 12:36 —
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caption:
Lotachukwu Ezeudu
By SaharaReporters, New York
Several sources have told
Saharareporters that officials of
Ministry of Justice in Enugu
State have asked the police to
charge Divisional Police Officer
Sam Chukwu as a major
accomplice in the kidnap and
murder of Lotachukwu (Lota)
Ezeudu, a 19-year old
accountancy student at the
University of Nigeria.
“Yes, we believe that DPO
Chukwu should stand trial for
his involvement in this case, ”
an official of the ministry
confirmed to us. He added that
the Enugu State police
command said they were
awaiting instructions from
Inspector General Hafiz Ringim
before they can arrest Chukwu.
Our police sources indicated that
Mr. Ringim was well aware of
the Lota Ezeudu case. “When
Alhaji [Ringim] was in Umuahia,
he received a communication
on this case, ” disclosed a police
officer in Abuja.
Several police sources told
Saharareporters that the new
police commissioner and his
deputy are prepared to sweep
away criminals like Sam
Chukwu from the force, but are
awaiting approval from Abuja.
Former IG Ogbonna Onovo had
ordered Sam Chukwu detained
at police headquarters in Abuja.
However, our sources said that
Onovo released Chukwu from
detention a few days before
President Goodluck Jonathan
relieved Onovo of his post as
the nation ’s top police officer. In
releasing Chukwu, Onovo had
ordered him suspended from
the police until the conclusion of
investigations.
A senior police source told
Saharareporters that “Onovo
made a big mistake when he
released Chukwu and allowed
him to return to Enugu, ” adding
that residents of Enugu know
that the suspended DPO ran
one of the most vicious kidnap
rings in Enugu State. The source
added that the officers who
briefed the former IG on the
Ezeudu case misled him by
“ covering up Chukwu’s
involvement.”
“How can this man be walking
as a free man in Enugu?” asked
an Enugu-based businessman
who relocated his family to
Lagos after kidnappers
threatened them. “I lost hope in
the whole police claim that they
are fighting kidnapping when
DPO Chukwu was sighted in
Enugu again, ” he remarked.
“Anybody in the police who
says he does not know that
Sam Chukwu is the chairman of
kidnappers in that Enugu is
telling a lie, ” he added.
The businessman disclosed that
Sam Chukwu openly brags that
his name is “Okali Oha” – which
means, one who is greater than
a community. “Unless this man
is brought to book, the whole
talk about combating
kidnapping would be a joke. ”
Some police sources told
Saharareporters that Chukwu is
deemed untouchable. “How can
the man spend more than
sixteen years in Enugu without
being transferred to any other
state ?” asked one of the
officers. He said Sam Chukwu’s
powerful political sponsors as
well as protectors in the police
headquarters were responsible
for turning him into an
uncontrollable monster in
Enugu.
Lota Ezeudu was kidnapped on
September 26, 2009 after he
was lured out to the DPO ’s
house in Awkunanaw, Enugu.
DPO Chukwu ’s son, Nnaemeka
Chukwu, had asked Lota to
come to his home and help one
Desmond Chinwuba and Ernest
Okeke to look at a computer
they reportedly wanted to
buy.
Several police sources have told
Saharareporters that Desmond
Chinwuba and Ernest Okeke
then kidnapped Lota with the
help of Uche Moses Amajor.
Both Chinwuba, a former police
officer, and Amajor are on the
run, but Ernest Okeke is in
prison custody along with the
DPO ’s son and a few other
suspects.
“Our review of the case file
reveals that the DPO was
heavily involved in the
kidnapping of Mr. Lota Ezeudu,”
a source in the Enugu State
Ministry of Justice told
Saharareporters. “I hope that
Alhaji Ringim is going to take
action immediately to ensure
that Sam Chukwu is charged to
court, ” the source added.
Sources familiar with the case
have outlined the details that
tie the DPO to the crime. The
sources revealed that DPO
Chukwu ’s car was used to
convey Lota’s body to a refuse
dump. Investigators have also
discovered that Desmond
Chinwuba, who was dismissed
from the police after he was
arrested for kidnapping and
armed robbery, made
numerous phone calls to Sam
Chukwu and his son, Nnaemeka
after he fled. “DPO Chukwu
knew that Desmond was
standing trial in an earlier
kidnap case. He also knew that
Desmond was wanted in
connection with Lota Ezeudu ’s
case. Yet, he failed to alert
authorities about the
whereabouts of this fugitive
who was hiding from
prosecution and investigators.”
Police sources also told us that
Chukwu ’s wife, who is a lawyer
by profession, was personally
delivering home-cooked meals
to Ernest Okeke and other
suspects during the time they
were being held in police
custody. One source also told us
that Mrs. Chukwu has recently
harassed the police officer
investigating the Lota Ezeudu
case. “She questioned the
commander for taking Ernest
Okeke out of prison to question
him more, ” said our source,
adding, “What is Mrs. Chukwu
afraid of?”
Our sources said Ernest Okeke
had confessed that Sam
Chukwu ’s was used to drive
Lota to the place where he was
killed and to the location where
his remains were disposed.
“Sam Chukwu had the
opportunity to avert the whole
nightmare of the Ezeudu
family, ” another source told us.
The source said that Lota’s
mother had approached
Chukwu on the day of her son’s
kidnap and told the DPO that
Lota had said he was headed to
the officer ’s home to help
Desmond with inspecting a
laptop computer. “Since Sam
Chukwu already knew the
background of Desmond – that
he was involved in a prior
kidnapping case – he should
have known that Desmond and
his own son, Nnaemeka, were
at it again. ” Instead, according
to this source, Chukwu was
remained nonchalant about the
case. One source said the DPO
even accused the investigating
officer of illegally detaining his
boys.
A source noted that Chukwu
claimed that the detained boys
were his tenants, but wondered
why a senior police officer
would want to meddle in the
affairs of supposed tenants
accused of committing a
criminal offense.
A source in the Ministry of
Justice told Saharareporters
that they were looking into
Sam Chukwu ’s role in
influencing the bail granted to
Desmond in his prior trial
related to a different case of
kidnapping and armed robbery.
The source said judges should
henceforth refrain from
handing out bails in kidnap
cases. “If Desmond was not
bailed he wouldn’t have had
the opportunity to commit
another crime, ” he said.

So this boy is dead!

What a painful loss to the parents and the society! A guy who innocently heeded a friend's call, its really sad.