Anambra women went naked in Awka to protest against wanton killings in the capital city, demanding the removal of the States’ Deputy Commissioner of Police and a Police Inspector they fingered as aiding and abetting crime in their community.
A viral video of the protest showed the women chanting ‘DC must go’, DC must go’.
They gave the names of the officers as DCP Akin Fakorode, in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department (State-CID), and Inspector Monday Umana, who also works in the department.
As a consequence, they have called on the police authorities to remove the two officers from Awka.
The protesters were made up of indigenes from Ezina-ano (4 quarters), Umuokpu (1 quarter), Ezi-Awka (7 quarters), Amikwo (5 quarters), and Agulu-Awka (7 quarters) that constitute the state capital.
The spokesperson for the protesters, Chief Richard Onuorah, who addressed newsmen shortly after the protest, said they were protesting to let the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Adeoye Aderemi, and the general public know about the alleged atrocities the officers had been committing in Awka and its environs.
Onuorah said the protest was a peaceful demonstration to appeal to the police authorities to replace the two officers with new personnel that would have human face.
He said, “We are asking the IGP and Police Service Commission (PSC) to please remove DC Akin Fakorode and Inspector Umana because we, the elders and leaders of these protesting quarters, housing 20 villages that form Awka capital, observed that most of the unholy activities in this town are being aided by the two officers.
“They have also destabilized our local security outfit, known as ‘Blue Shield,’ established to get rid of criminalities in the city for their selfish interest.
“We are tired of burying our children. We want peace in our town. We are helpless; the Police authorities should come to our rescue,” Onuorah stated.
The protesters barricaded the old Enugu-Onitsha expressway for hours.
They carried placards with different inscriptions such as; “DC Akin Fakorode must go,” “Anambra needs honest police officers,” “remove bad eggs from our Police,” “Akin Fakorode is a corrupt officer,” “Inspector Monday Umana is a criminal; he takes bribes,” “DC Akin Fakorode is causing insecurity in Awka,”
‘Enough is enough,’ ‘ Say no to bribery and corruption,’ ‘We are not happy,’ and ‘Our children, brothers, husbands, cousins, relatives are being killed on a daily basis.’
The protesters moved from the popular Ogbugbankwa Park to Eke-Awka Roundabout, and from there they moved to Igwebuike, Parkers Junction, Ukwu Orji, Area Command, and then back to Ogbugbankwa.
The protesters carried a mock coffin, which they said signalled the burial of the cultists, just as they gave a seven-day ultimatum to the police to do the needful by arresting the perpetrators.
The Chairman, Ezinano community, Tochukwu Nwokoye, said they embarked on the peaceful protest to bring to an end the activities of cultists in Awka.
Nwokoye said, “It is our humble hope to have these cult-related killings stop forthwith. Our brothers are going down daily due to cultism and cult-related attacks. We will not keep quiet and watch these heinous crimes and man’s inhumanity to man continue.
“It is time to put a stop to it. We are really in a very touchy situation. Palpable fear everywhere. We cannot go out and come back in peace. We are really afraid. People are dying every day.”
Another protester, Obi Modilim, noted that they were tired of burying their kinsmen and called for an end to what he described as “incessant killings and maiming of our people.”
Modilim said, “We want them to return the ‘blue shield operatives’ back to us. They should allow them to move freely. We are okay with them. The operatives are the people we know. They have been securing us. We want them back.”
When contacted on the development, the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, stated that the police would not descend so low as to compromise security in the state capital by shielding cultists, even as he said that the police would investigate the matter.
Ikenga said, “Those they mentioned their names are very experienced officers. They have been around, especially the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of SCID. These officers mentioned will be investigated. We cannot sweep the allegations under the carpet. We must do a thorough investigation.
“As you can see, the state is mourning the former Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju. We would not want to heat up the state. We have asked the families of the deceased to come forward and prove their cases.
“The allegation that the Deputy Commissioner of Police was recently transferred from Rivers State is false. He has been around. We know his antecedents, that’s not to say that we’ll not investigate all the allegations levelled against the police.”
The PPRO added, “Awka has been relatively peaceful. We are working with the community and they have been providing us with vital information that led to the arrest of a notorious killer and he’s currently helping us out on investigation.
“He equally confessed to all manners of atrocious acts he has carried out in Awka. We are here to maintain law and order.”
