by SaharaReporters, New
York
Saturday, 12 June 2010 02:30
Three police
sources in
Enugu and
another one
in Abuja
have told
Saharareporters that some officers
in the Enugu command are
involved in kidnapping-for-ransom
schemes, but apparently receive
protection from unknown senior
officers. Saharareporters spoke to
the sources in the course of an
investigation into the kidnap of
one Lotachukwu Nobel Ezeudu, a
student at the University of Nigeria
(Enugu campus).
“I can tell you that Sam Chukwu,
the DPO in Awkunanaw, Enugu is
known to encourage kidnappers
and to benefit financially from
kidnappings, ” said one of the police
officers who spoke to us from
Enugu. The source added that Mr.
Chukwu is directly or indirectly
implicated in the kidnap of
Lotachukwu Ezeudu. Our source in
Abuja also stated that Mr.
Chukwu’s association with officers
facing armed robbery and
kidnapping charges made him a
big suspect.
Ezeudu, a second year
accountancy student at UNN,
disappeared on September 26,
2009. Police investigators told
Saharareporters that Ezeudu left
the house after telling his parents
that he was going to meet
Nnaemeka Chukwu, the DPO’s son,
and Desmond Ibezimako
Chinwuba. According to our
sources, the kidnapped student
told his parents that Desmond
Chinwuba and his brother, Chijioke
Chinwuba, wanted him to come
out and help them to evaluate a
laptop that Desmond was
interested in buying.
Our source, who is familiar with the
investigation into the case of the
missing Lotachukwu Ezeudu, told
Saharareporters that the DPO ’s
son, Nnaemeka Chukwu, stated
that he later asked Lotachukwu
not to come to his house because
he (Nnaemeka) was going
elsewhere to watch a football
game. However, the source told
Saharareporters that the phone
records provided by MTN do not
show that Nnaemeka placed the
alleged call.
Lotachukwu Ezeudu is the only son
of Bona Ezeudu, a well-known
Nigerian sculptor and painter, and
Ngozi Ezeudu. Lotachukwu has not
been seen since that fateful day in
September 2009 when he told his
parents he was going to meet
Nnaemeka Chukwu and Desmond
Chinwuba Ibezimako. One police
source revealed that the Ezeudus
received a call demanding a
ransom that exceeded one million
naira. The source added that,
despite the fact that the Ezeudu
family paid the ransom demanded
by their son ’s kidnappers, the
young student has neither been
released nor have his abductors
made any more contact.
One of our police sources stated
that DPO Sam Chukwu “has a lot of
questions to answer.” Our
investigations revealed that
Nnaemeka Chukwu, the DPO’s son,
and the kidnap victim, Lotachukwu
Ezeudu, went to the same
secondary school.
One source described DPO
Chukwu ’s relationship with
Desmond Ibezimako and another
suspect, Ernest Okeke, as “very
troubling.” Both Desmond
Ibezimako and Ernest Okeke are
former police officers who are
being tried for participating in
other armed robberies and
kidnappings, but both men
maintained close relationships with
DPO Chukwu and even lived in his
house. Ernest is currently in
custody in relation to the kidnap of
Lotachukwu Ezeudu, but he has
refused to confess despite the fact
that Lotachukwu ’s phone was
traced to him during the period he
called to negotiate the ransom.
The source disclosed that Desmond
Chinwuba “was sacked from the
police for his role in another armed
robbery and kidnapping case. ” He
added, “Desmond is facing trial for
armed robbery and kidnapping in
Court 7 of the Enugu North chief
magistrate court. Why did DPO
Chukwu allow such a character to
live under his roof and to roam
around with his son, Nnaemeka?
How does a senior police officer
like the DPO justify harboring a
well-known kidnapper and armed
robber? Did the DPO hire the
armed robber and kidnapper to
train his son? Or was Desmond
given shelter because he was
carrying out shady deals for the
DPO ?”
One police officer told
Saharareporters that it was well
known among their rank that
Desmond “is Sam Chukwu’s boy
and commits crimes with
impunity. ” He said Desmond had
been linked to kidnapping, robbery
and the hijack of oil tanker
hijacking, adding that the fugitive
former officer was “the brain
behind most prominent
kidnappings in Enugu. ”
One police source told
Saharareporters that Nnaemeka
Chukwu lied to his circle of friends,
including the missing Lotachukwu
Ezeudu, that Desmond Ibezimako
was his father ’s personal assistant.
Several police sources told
Saharareporters that DPO Chukwu
had been using his contacts within
the police to secure the release of
the suspects being held in the
disappearance of Lotachukwu
Ezeudu.
In an interview with
Saharareporters, a relative of the
Ezeudus wondered why the DPO
failed to surrender Desmond to
police authorities once he learned
that Desmond was a suspect in
Lotachukwu Ezeudu’s abduction.
Instead, the DPO shielded
Desmond who is now a fugitive in
some unknown location. A police
source said that DPO Chukwu had
ensured that Desmond did not
make a statement to the police
before he absconded. One police
source said they had received tips
that Desmond may have fled to
China or Malaysia with the
assistance of DPO Sam Chukwu.
Our police sources also named one
Moses Amajor, whose father owns
Prosper Hotel in Trans Ekulu,
Enugu, as a suspect in
Lotachukwu ’s disappearance. The
source stated that a tracking
device that monitored calls from
Lotachukwu ’s phone led police to
believe that the missing student
was kept overnight at Prosper
Hotel before he was moved to an
unknown location.
On March 10, 2010, the police
headquarters in Enugu issued a
press release declaring both
Desmond and Moses Uche Amajor
wanted “for the offences of
conspiracy, armed robbery and
kidnapping ” of Lotachukwu
Ezeudu.
Our sources said that the Inspector
General of Police Ogbonnaya
Onovo had ordered the Enugu
Police Command to address the
matter of the missing Lotachukwu
on or before the end of May, but
that no results had materialized.
“ Nothing will happen until the DPO
[Chukwu] is made to face the
music, ” added the source.
Contacted by Saharareporters, a
tearful relative of the Ezeudus said
the parents of the missing
accountancy student were still
hopeful that Inspector General
Onovo ’s intervention would result
in their son’s safe return to the
family. She added that
Lotachukwu ’s parents had had
sleepless nights for months “and
they urgently plead with the
Presidency, the IG of Police, other
security agencies, churches and
other well wishers to come to their
aid in resolving the nightmare of
their son ’s kidnap.”