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ENUGU, Nigeria (September 11, 2026) — Human rights activist and public affairs commentator Onwuka Chimezie, popularly known as “Mezie,” has alleged widespread human rights abuses at an Enugu State Police anti-kidnapping facility where he says he was briefly held earlier this month, prompting a public call from lawyer Aloy Ejimakor for the Inspector-General of Police to order an urgent investigation.

The allegations trace back to Chimezie’s arrest on Friday, September 4, when he was reportedly picked up in Abuja by officers of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of the Rivers State Police Command. Human rights advocate Marshal Abubakar has said the arrest was carried out at the instance of Rivers State Commissioner of Police Olugbenga Adepoju Adewole, in connection with comments Chimezie had made about land-grabbing allegations involving the commissioner. Abubakar said Chimezie was subsequently being transported by road from Abuja toward Port Harcourt, but the journey was aborted in Enugu.

According to Chimezie’s own account, posted on social media and later amplified by Ejimakor, he was detained overnight at the Anti-Kidnapping facility in Enugu on Saturday, September 5, held in “cell-1” alongside numerous other suspects. He said that during his hours in custody, he witnessed firsthand what he described as human rights abuses and degrading treatment of detainees by officials of the Nigeria Police Force at the facility.

Chimezie said he spoke with a suspect, identified only as Fulani, who told him that detainees in “cell-3” had gone without food for as long as a week, and that many had been held for up to two years without being charged in court. He said the detainees he encountered appeared malnourished, which he said corroborated accounts he received directly from alleged victims inside the facility.

In his post, Chimezie directed pointed questions at the leadership of the Enugu State Police Command under Commissioner of Police Bitrus Giwa, asking why the command had not moved to investigate the facility directly if it was genuinely unaware of conditions there, rather than what he characterized as engaging him on social media and threatening him with a cyber offense charge.

That exchange followed a public response from SP Daniel Ndukwe, the Police Public Relations Officer for the Enugu State Police Command, who addressed Chimezie by his nickname “Mezie” in a social media post, saying his allegations had been “well intercepted” and urging him to “come clear with these allegations to aid answering the questions” he wanted addressed — adding that failure to do so “may render the post a subject of cyber offense.”

Chimezie pushed back on that response, saying he did not understand what Ndukwe meant by his allegations being “intercepted,” and reiterated the specifics of his account: that he had been abducted in Abuja on Friday evening by a squad from Rivers State, held overnight in cell-1 at the Enugu facility, and had reported intelligence he said he gathered directly from other suspects during his detention.

Call for Investigation

Abuja-based lawyer Aloy Ejimakor has since called on Inspector-General of Police to urgently direct a thorough investigation into the allegations, posting Chimezie’s full account and describing it as a “grave allegation” warranting the IG’s direct attention.

Neither the Enugu State Police Command nor Rivers State Police Command has issued a substantive response to the specific allegations of malnourishment, prolonged detention without charge, or degrading treatment at the anti-kidnapping facility beyond Ndukwe’s initial social media response. The Nigeria Police Force at the national level has not commented on the matter as of this report.

The episode adds to a string of recent controversies involving Nigerian police conduct and treatment of activists and government critics. Chimezie’s underlying arrest has itself drawn separate criticism, with lawyer Marshal Abubakar calling for the removal of Rivers State’s police commissioner over what he described as an unlawful arrest and detention carried out in retaliation for Chimezie’s public commentary.

As of this report, Chimezie’s allegations regarding conditions at the Enugu facility remain unverified by any independent body, and no formal investigation has been publicly announced by the Nigeria Police Force.

This is a developing story.