Two years after Chukwuma Ihezie, a graduate of mechanical engineering at the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu, had his life cut short reportedly in the hands of policemen attached to the Enugu State Police Command, the family of Sabastine Ihezie of Umuozu Ezumoha in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State has requested the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, and the Police Service Commission to ensure justice is done.
Chukwuma was awaiting his call-up for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and, in the interim, had taken up cab driving to earn money when he had an encounter with the police which led to his suspicious death in their custody.
It was inconceivable at the time that the effort of the young graduate to earn a decent living, away from crime, would lead to his death allegedly in the hands of officers of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) attached to the Enugu State Police Command, under suspicious circumstances.
In a bid to unravel the mystery surrounding the death as well as seek justice, the family, represented by Chinedu Ihezie, elder brother of the deceased, through several petitions to the Enugu State Police Command; the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG); the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and Police Service Commission (PSC), reported the case to the police but are yet to get justice more than two years after.
In an initial petition dated March 31, 2014, to the Commissioner of Police (CP) in charge of Enugu State Police Command titled: ‘The Extrajudicial Murder of Mr. Chukwuma Ihezie; And Subsequent Financial Extortion/Expliotation of The Family by Men And Officers of The Enugu State Police Command,’ the family demanded the arrest, dismissal and prosecution of the police officers involved in the alleged murder.
It alleged: “The deceased was unlawfully and brutally murdered on January 18, 2014, by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Enugu State Police Command.
“The murder story of the deceased, started sometime on Sunday, January 12, 2014, when the deceased’s
service, as a taxi-cab driver, was secured by an unknown passenger, for the passenger to be conveyed by the deceased to a hotel located at Independence Layout area of Enugu, known and called Royal Media Hotel. (Vanguard)
