BY AGNES NWORIE, ABAKALIKI
The Nigerian Bar Association, Onueke Branch, in Ebonyi State, has petitioned the Commissioner of Police in the Command, Aliyu Garba, on the gruesome murder of Gloria Amechi-Enyi, a lawyer’s wife, at her Number 1, Enyi Street residence, Nkaliki Road, Abakaliki, the state capital.
The petition, dated November 26, was jointly signed by an official of the NBA, Don Ikechukwu Njoku, and the Branch Chairman, Uche Igba.
The NBA alleged the DPO of Abakaliki Central Police Station Ikechukwu Okoro; the IPO, Geoffrey Aghachi; one Inspector Emmanuel Lawrence and his wife, Mrs Lawrence; of the murder of the deceased.
According to the group, the husband of the deceased was allegedly lured out of his house to be able to execute their plans.
They also accused the officers of taking the husband’s phone from the station that night, alleging that it (the phone) could have been used to lure the woman to open the door at night.
They prayed the CP to order a discreet investigation into the murder of the deceased and vowed that they would not rest on the matter until the culprits were brought to book.
The petition indicated that the deceased was stabbed to death at her residence, while her husband, Shedrack Enyi, was detained at the Central Police Station, Abakaliki, on the orders of the DPO, Ikechukwu Okoro.
The petition read in parts, “We gathered that Shedrack Enyi, who we shall in this petition refer to as our colleague, is the Attorney, managing the premises, where Emmanuel Lawrence, wife of the Inspector Emmanuel Lawrence mentioned above, is occupying an apartment.
“It is our brief that the said Mrs. Emmanuel Lawrence, converted part of her rented apartment to mini poultry, an act which constituted unbearable nuisance against other tenants in the premises.
”Acting on the persistent complaints raised against the said nuisance, our colleague approached the said Mrs. Emmanuel Lawrence and appealed to her to dismantle the poultry made of wood and cease further rearing of the chicken in the premises.
“It is our brief that the said Mrs. Lawrence flagrantly refused to yield to the entreaties made by our colleague in respect of the nuisance.
“Our colleague could no longer bear the choking complaints from other tenants, owing to the awful smells oozing from the poultry farm, our colleague, with the assistance of the caretaker of the premises and other tenants, removed the poultry and kept same outside the premises in the presence of the Mrs. Lawrence.
“Consequently, Mrs. Lawrence and her husband, Inspector Lawrence began to unleash threat after threats against our colleague. We were informed that the said inspector, shouted at our colleague, (saying), Enyi, as you removed this pen, I shall in like manner, remove your life from the face of the earth.’
“It is our brief that our colleague was eventually arrested and detained following the complaint made. Our colleague said he was admitted to administrative bail after two days and was given a date for interview.
“Before our colleague was admitted to bail, the DPO was aggressive towards our client even though they never met. The DPO boasted that he had brutally dealt with lawyers in other places he had served and that he would set Enyi as a distasteful example in Ebonyi State.
“It is our information that on the date scheduled for the interview, our colleague was at the CPS for the interview, but the IPO was nowhere to be seen. When our colleague contacted him on phone, he told our colleague to wait for him. Our colleague waited for hours to no avail. At a point, the IPO stopped picking our colleague’s calls.
“These nonchalant attitude and threats led our colleague to apply for transfer of the case file through your office. The application for transfer was approved and the case file was ordered to be transferred to SIB of the police headquarters where he made statement.
“On Saturday, the 20th day of November 2021, our colleague was at the said premises to inspect the repair work on the borehole at the premises, (when) the said Mrs. Lawrence called the CPS IPO, who came and asked our colleague to follow him to CPS. Our colleague told the said IPO that he would join him there after he might have finished inspecting the ongoing repairs on the borehole.
“It is our information that the said IPO called a Police backup team who stormed the premises and said that the DPO ordered (that) he must be brought to CPS either dead or alive. Our colleague was treated like a common criminal handcuffed and bundled into a waiting van to CPS where the DPO vowed and repeated his earlier threats that he was going to deal with our colleague.
“Our colleague again was thrown into cell on the orders of the said DPO on Saturday, the 20th day of November, 2021 and he remained incarcerated till Monday, the 22nd of November 2021 when his wife, full of life, was brutally murdered.
“We want you to use your good office to investigate this brutal murder and bring all the perpetrators to face full weight of the law.”
