A disturbing trend of labelling high-profile victims as members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) or Eastern Security Network (ESN) has emerged within the Enugu Command of the Nigeria Police Force.
This tactic is allegedly used to extort large sums of money from the victims, with the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kanayo Uzuegbu, accused of sanctioning the criminal operation as the spoils are shared in percentage.
It was gathered that the anti-kidnapping squad and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) engage in such criminal operations, dropping the name of the commissioner and providing account numbers to allegedly receive payments from victims, thus avoiding traces.
The recent case involves Mr. Olu Agwu, who was abducted in his village at Abiriba, in the Ohafia local government area of Abia State, on December 26, 2024. He was handcuffed, blindfolded, and taken with his brand-new Toyota Hilux vehicle to an unknown destination until he found himself at the Enugu State Police Command anti-kidnapping squad unit along the Enugu-Abakaliki Road, where he was detained for three days under extreme conditions.
An investigation by SaharaReporters revealed that Olu Agwu was released after being forced to pay N62 million to different accounts associated with some senior police officers.
Some of the money was allegedly for the Inspector General of Police, an Assistant Inspector General of Police, and the state Commissioner of Police.
Security sources informed SaharaReporters that Agwu’s attempts to understand why he was being taken to an unknown location by his abductors were unsuccessful, as the policemen involved neither wore uniforms nor revealed their identities.
“It was when he got to Enugu anti-kidnapping squad unit that they removed his blindfold and then flashed a document claiming that the Inspector General of Police endorsed that he should be arrested.
“The allegation against him initially was that he kidnapped his friend, identified as one Mgboji Michael Umeh, who was deported from Vietnam and that he is a member of IPOB’s Eastern Security Network (ESN),” said a security source who revealed that the injustice done to the young man weighs heavily on his conscience.