By Izunna Okafor, Awka
Some group of men, suspected to be law enforcement agents have allegedly brutalized and robbed some travellers of some substantial amount of money in Anambra State.
The incident happened at Upper Iweka in Onitsha, commercial hub of the State, where the suspected law enforcement agents allegedly accosted and apprehended the travellers, in the guise of enforcing law and order.
Recounting his ordeal in a video that has gone viral on social media, one of the victims, Mr. Chidi Eleaka, an indigene of Mbaise in Imo State, said the people, who wore a uniform with an inscription “Environmental Agent” robbed him of the sum of N50,000 he budgeted for his transportation, and also beat him up.
According to him, he and his Yoruba friend were travelling to Lagos and were at Onitsha to board a bus at Lagos Park after crossing from the opposite side of the road, only for a group of men to confront them, held them, and started claiming that they committed offense by crossing through the Express instead of through the pedestrian bridge.
Mr. Eleaka observed that other pedestrians without bags who also run-crossed the Express the same ways they did, without going through the pedestrian bridge were spared and not apprehended by the said law enforcement agents, because they did not carry travelling bags, including those who crossed before them and those who crossed after them.
“So, as we were crossing the Express to Lagos, because we saw some other people crossing (though they were not with bags, but we were with our travelling bags), some people now rushed and held us, saying that we didn’t cross through the flyover (pedestrian bridge).
“And they told us that the Boss was calling us. The other person they held together with us wanted to argue with them over that, and they brutalized him, and he immediately cooled down.
“When we asked them what to do, they tell us that our fine was N5,000 each, and we were pleading with them that you didn’t have N5,000, that the only money we had with us was our transportation fare. And they insisted that we must give them that our transportation fare. So as I was trying to explain to them further to them that we didn’t have any additional money with us, they grabbed me immediately and began to search my bag and pocket. From there, they collected the N50,000 I had budgeted for the journey.
“The other person they apprehended together with us also wanted to voice out again against that act; and they beat him up the second time and commanded him to bring his own fine.
“As he was trying to count out N5,000 from the bundle of money he brought out from his pocket, the bundle of money fell on the ground and those people immediately grabbed the entire money and pocketed it, and commanded all of us to get out.
“So, I became very confused and began to question them if it was robbery that they were doing or law enforcement. And, as I was saying that, the bounced on me and began to brutalize us, accusing me of calling them thieves. Even 50,000 I didn’t see again,” Mr. Eleaka recounted in Igbo language.
“So we didn’t know how to proceed further with our journey then considering how very expensive transportation fare is at the moment,” he lamented.
The then stranded traveller said that it took the help of one of the drivers they know at the Park for them to proceed with their journey and get to Lagos that day before their family members brought another money for them at the park to pay. This experience, he said, made his Yoruba friend and co-traveller to vow never to visit southeast again in his life.
While lamenting over the money that they lost and the beatings they got, he further called for urgent action, wondering and questioning if Anambra government is truly away of the presence of and such heinous acts being perpetrated in Onitsha by the ‘hoodlums’ in the name of law enforcement.
“The black uniform they wore had the inscription ‘Environmental Agent’. It is high time the government visited Onitsha, especially Upper Iweka, to see what is happening there,” Mr. Eleaka passionately appealed.
Watch the video below:
This reporter, Izunna Okafor, recalls that similar report of brutalization by law enforcement agents at Onitsha had been made of an agency of the state government, as was captured in a HORRIBLE VIDEO that went viral sometime in March this year, where the said law enforcement agents set up by government to help maintain law and order and end touting, were captured (in the video) brutalizing a man to near death with pestle in the name of law enforcement — an act that was later CONDEMNED by the government.
