21 Year Old Undergraduate Murdered By Police

UMUAHIA — FOR the family of Mr. Emmanuel
Uwagbaokwu of Ohobo Afara in Umuahia North
Council Area of Abia State, happiness and peace
of mind have eluded them for now following
the gruesome murder of their 21 year old son,
Ikechukwu Uwagbaokwu, allegedly by the
operatives of the Abia State Police Command.
Until his tragic death, Ikechukwu Vincent
Uwagbaokwu was a student of Imo State
Polytechnic, Umuagwo, in Ohaji- Egbema Local
Government Area.
The Uwagbaokwu family is strongly linking the
tragic killing of their son to a land dispute it
has with the Ndukwe and Uwaga families.
Specifically, the family is alleging that the
said families framed their son and connived with
the police to kill Ikechukwu because of the
land dispute.
The land dispute was said to have lingered and
was getting messier when the community’s
traditional peace makers, Ibeku Okonko
Arbitration Panel waded into it and had indeed
fixed a date to hear from the families involved
before one the parties lost one of the
witnesses, prompting the rescheduling of the
matter by the traditional panel.
However, five days to the rescheduled date,
Ikechukwu was gruesomely murdered and the
Uwagbaokwu family is pointing accusing fingers
at the rival families in the land dispute.
According to their petition to the Abia State
Commissioner of Police, Uwagbaokwu family hinged
their suspicion on an allegation from one of
the rival families which had earlier accused them
of being responsible for the death of their
family member.
The Uwagbaokwu family, in the petition, written
by their lawyer, Godwin Oriaku of Overcome’s
Chambers, claimed that days before the burial
of the deceased from the rival family, they
[rival family] sent a warning message to them
not to attend the burial ceremony, accusing
them of having a hand in the death of their
brother. The petition also alleged that prior to
the killing of Ikechukwu, “there have been
threats issued at various occasions” by the rival
family that lost a member that they were
“going to avenge the death from the family of
Uwagbaokwu”.
In the petition addressed to Abia Police
Commissioner, Joshak Habila, the family of the
slain undergraduate accused the police of killing
their son. “On the 10th of September, 2015, Mr.
Ikechukwu Vincent Uwagbaokwu, a Marketing
Student of Imo Polytechnic went to bed at
about 9.00pm but at about 10.50pm there was
persistent banging on the door of the family
house of the Uwagbaokwu.
“When Mr. Anthony Uwagbaokwe (elder brother of
deceased) came out to see who was banging on
their door, lo and behold, there were about ten
fierce men in Police uniform who had taken
strategic positions in the surroundings of the
house. “One of the men in uniform, who came
with Hilux pick up van and black Camry Saloon
Car, hit the door of one of the occupants of
the house and forced it open. When the
occupant came out, the men in police uniform,
who refused to identify themselves, said that
he was not the person that they were looking
for.
“The Police went to the direction pointed to by
those who allegedly brought them. The armed
policemen forced the next wooden door open
and on sighting Ikechukwu Vincent Uwagbaokwu,
one of the policemen allegedly shot him and
he died immediately. “Our clients raised alarm
but nobody came to their rescue. The matter
was reported to Ehimiri Police Station in whose
jurisdiction this area falls, where the Divisional
Police Officer (DPO) gave them order to deposit
the deceased at Madonna Mortuary in Umuahia,”
the family stated
The 54 year old father of slain Ikechukwu, Mr.
Emmanuel Uwagbaokwu, has therefore appealed to
the Inspector General of police, Solomon Arase
to order a comprehensive investigation to
properly unravel who are the killers of his
son. In a telephone chat, the Commissioner of
Police, Joshak Habila could neither confirm nor
deny the incident or the receipt of the petition
but urged the lawyer and members of the
family to see him in the office if they have
such allegation, saying that they would not
cover or protect any police man involved in
extra-judicial killing or any illegal act.
But the family lawyer, Godwin Oriaku, insisted
that the Police Commissioner has the petitions
which he forwarded to the CID department to
investigate. In fact, Oriaku claimed that four
suspects have been arrested but alleged that
the Ehimiri DPO was still shielding the alleged
killer cop even as he said that his clients
would demand for a thorough autopsy to
determine the type of bullet that killed their
son.