A COMMUNIQUE ISSUED BY THE COALITION OF ANAMBRA ONLINE MEDIA COMMUNITY ON MONDAY, 26TH NOVEMBER 2018 CALLING ON THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE (IGP) IBRAHIM IDRIS KPOTUN TO ENSURE THAT JUSTICE IS DONE TO CITIZEN ENEH VICTOR CHIGOZIE WHO WAS ALLEGEDLY ABDUCTED WITH THE AID OF MEN OF THE ANAMBRA STATE POLICE COMMAND AND DEHUMANIZED BY A CERTAIN CHINEDU BENJAMIN OBIDIGWE, A PRIVATE CITIZEN AND FORMER AIDE OF GOV, WILLIE OBIANO.
1. Upon the disturbing news of what appears more like an abduction (in the guise of arrest) and subsequent dehumanization of one of us, Citizen Eneh Victor Chigozie, deeply concerned social media influencers met at De Geogold Hotel Awka on Sunday 18/11/2018 under the auspices of Anambra Online Media Community to deliberate on emerging reports on the incident at the time; especially the angle suggestive of a breach of Citizen Eneh’s fundamental rights and procedures of arrest as embedded in our extant laws.
2. In order not to rely on hearsay, the Community painstakingly got in touch with Citizen Eneh while the meeting was ongoing and got firsthand briefing of the very disheartening and condemnable dehumanization that he was subjected to by his abductors who, going by his account, apparently must have colluded with a particular unit of the Anambra state Police Command to facilitate his abduction from his native Enugu state (without the knowledge of the Enugu State Police Command) at a very ungodly hour; from where he was allegedly bundled to the Aguleri country home of his tormentor-in-chief, whom he identified as a certain Chinedu Benjamin Obidigwe – a former aide of Gov. Willie Obiano and now the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate for Anambra East and West federal constituency in the forthcoming general election.
3. In his conversation with us, Citizen Eneh, among other chilling revelations, narrated how he was handcuffed like a common criminal (that he is not) and compelled to sit helplessly on the floor of his tormentor-in-chief’s Aguleri home while he, Obidigwe; his media aide, one Dominic Okagbue and a host of others he personally recognized, descended on him with horsewhip and hard objects and in the process, inflicted grave bodily harm on his person. As if those were not enough, Citizen Eneh further alleged that he was bitten severally on his earlobe and other parts of the body leaving scars and wounds that have defied treatment and continue to fester.
4. Suffice it to say that Citizen Eneh’s account would have sounded stranger than fiction but for the timely emergence on social media of a leaked photograph of the victim in handcuff sitting dejectedly on the bare floor of a sitting room believed to be that of Obidigwe, as alleged, a day after the incident. Upon careful observation of the photograph, it was evident that Citizen Eneh couldn’t have snapped himself in the dehumanizing position he found himself at that moment; hence the conclusion that the shot was taken and released on the orders of his tormentor-in-chief. This gives credence to Citizen Eneh’s unequivocal revelation that it was Obidigwe’s media aide, one Dominic Okagbue that took the photograph and must have gone ahead to release it on his order to further expose his person to public ridicule.
5. In the light of the foregoing and considering that there has not been any formal rebuttal of the grievous allegations levied against Chinedu Obidigwe by Citizen Eneh, either by himself or his official media handlers, we, the under-listed members of Anambra Online Media Community of different political persuasions do observe/resolve as follows:
a. We suspect that those genuinely miffed by the bizarre revelations of the dehumanization of Citizen Eneh Victor Chigozie are not seized of the content of the said petition by Chinedu Obidigwe against the former. The issue on the front burner at the moment is therefore not whether Citizen Eneh Victor Chigozie has maligned his person or not. The courts are there to determine that or otherwise on the strength of the said petition when the matter gets to that curve.
b. We condemn in the strongest of terms, concerted efforts to muddle up issues and rights’ breaches thrown up by the apparent abduction of Citizen Eneh Victor Chigozie; which we have meticulously observed is what many defenders of Chinedu Obidigwe are trying to do in an apparent attempt to diminish the deluge of angst that has continued to trail the abduction, dehumanization and subsequent release on bail of the renowned social media influencer.
c. We strongly suspect, until proven otherwise, that the police officers who were part of the abduction had no warrant of arrest to do so and, from available information, did not incident the arrest cum abduction of Citizen Eneh at any police station in Enugu state before allegedly bundling him to Aguleri. Consequently, we strongly call for the immediate arrest of all involved in the saga and their subsequent prosecution if found culpable in any form.
d. Except there are criminal angles in the alleged petition that Obidigwe was reported to have forwarded to the DSS against Citizen Eneh Victor Chigozie which the public is unaware of, such civil matters should not warrant the use of state connections and powers to abduct, illegally detain (even for one minute) and dehumanize a fellow citizen. We not only expressly condemn the primitive resort to self-help in the strongest terms but also consider Obidigwe’s alleged conduct as both inimical to lawful coexistence and an affront to our extant laws that must not go unpunished if established to be so.
e. Let it be clearly understood that we are not in any way advocating that redress should not be sought by parties who felt sufficiently maligned by the pennings’ or submissions of their critics, either on r egular or new media. That said, it is pertinent to reiterate in the circumstances that, for us as an entity, our concern in the saga is limited to the redress. We find it unbelievable, reprehensible and unacceptable that rather than the police taking Citizen Eneh Victor Chigozie from the point of arrest cum abduction to the police station, they instead bullied and drove him to the said Obidigwe’s Aguleri country home where he was allegedly molested and dehumanized by Obidigwe himself and others he has mentioned
CONCLUSION
Based on the foregoing, we strongly call on the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris Kpotun to, as a matter of urgency and to promptly restore public confidence in the ability of the Police Force to be fair to all citizens until proven guilty, to:
1. Promptly transfer this matter away from the Anambra State Police Command which, from the narrative so far, appear to be complicit in the molestation / dehumanization of Citizen Eneh Victor Chigozie.
2. Cause proper and unbiased investigation into the incident with a view to establishing the level of culpability or otherwise of all parties involved in the alleged abduction.
3. Prosecute without delay or bottlenecks, those found culpable in the alleged wanton violation of Citizen Eneh Victor Chigozie’s rights.
Signed:
1.Kenechukwu Ugochukwu Onwunzo
2.Dr. Justin Nwankwo
3. Hon Emmabiggy Anamene
4.Ichie Chukwunonso Elvis
5.Comr. Ifeanyi Emeka David
6.Obi Chukwuemeka
7. Comr.Ngini Ebelechukwu Emmanuel
8.Ilo Campglory chinedu S
9.Nwaneki Benedict
10.Okwa Ifugo
11. Austine Canice Chimdum
12.Igboeli Arinze Napoleon
13. Stanley Ikenna Onwuchekwe
14.Mazi Ejimofor Opara
15.Citizen Chris Onyekachukwu Okafor
16.Chris McCool Nwosu
17.Maduka Uche Ken
18.Mbanugo Onyeka Nelson
19.Izuchukwu Anslem Ositadimma
20.Obijekwu Barth Ifediora
21.Kingsley Chukwuemeka Ubani
22.Tobenna Obiano
23.Azikigbo Great
24.Paschal Candle
25.Ifunanya Faithmicheal Chinenye
26.Pope Amaefuna Obinna Anthony
27.Onyeoma Franklin
28.Kenechukwu Obidigbo
29.Chukwuma Miracle
30.Akweke Francis Chidozie Okoye
31.Oraegbunam Pajimo.
32.Mazi Chidi Orjika
33.Chinedu Maduabum
34.Senior comrade Nwosu Stephen Ifeanyi (Mgbamgba Awka).
