The family members of Ekenechukwu Uwakwe, a
motorcycle spare parts dealer at Ebute-Meta, Lagos, have revealed how
their brother was arrested and detained at the Special Anti-Robbery
Squad (SARS), Ikeja, Lagos, moments after his traditional wedding.
The suspect, Uwakwe was said to be at the village, about to have his traditional wedding when he got news that SARS men wanted him for questioning. Rather than have a honeymoon with his wife, he quickly dashed back to Lagos.
He reported himself to SARS and was promptly detained. Police, however, said that the suspect’s family members were lying. According to the family, before the arrival of Uwakwe to Lagos, his sister, Nkechi, and her pastor had been arrested in proxy. They were, however, released after the suspect was arrested.
Uwakwe’s brother-in-law, Chief Lawrence Umeh said he was disturbed that Uwakwe’s offence was not really known. Determined to get Uwakwe out on bail, Umeh had sought the intervention of the Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria (NOPRIN), a non-governmental organisation. Umeh, who said that he works with soldiers, said: “Immediately Uwakwe came back from the village, he made himself available to SARS. This made the police to release his sister and pastor on bail. I went to SARS, to see what I could do to help him out with my lawyer, but we were told that the man was arrested on allegation of robbery, kidnapping and fraud. The lawyer was denied of seeing Uwakwe until October 15, when he was taken to court.
It was later I got information about NOPRIN. Since then, the Foundation has been trying everything possible to bring Uwakwe out of prison.” The National Coordinator of NOPRIN, Okechukwu Nwanguma said that on October 9, 2014, NOPRIN received a complaint concerning the indefinite detention of Uwakwe, a motorcycle spare parts dealer. He said: “Uwakwe had travelled in December 2013 to hisThe family members of Ekenechukwu Uwakwe, a motorcycle spare parts dealer at Ebute-Meta, Lagos, have revealed how their brother was arrested and detained at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, Lagos, moments after his traditional wedding. The suspect, Uwakwe was said to be at the village, about to have his traditional wedding when he got news that SARS men wanted him for questioning. Rather than have a honeymoon with his wife, he quickly dashed back to Lagos.
He reported himself to SARS and was promptly detained. Police, however, said that the suspect’s family members were lying. According to the family, before the arrival of Uwakwe to Lagos, his sister, Nkechi, and her pastor had been arrested in proxy. They were, however, released after the suspect was arrested. Uwakwe’s brother-in-law, Chief Lawrence Umeh said he was disturbed that Uwakwe’s offence was not really known. Determined to get Uwakwe out on bail, Umeh had sought the intervention of the Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria (NOPRIN), a non-governmental organisation. Umeh, who said that he works with soldiers, said: “Immediately Uwakwe came back from the village, he made himself available to SARS. This made the police to release his sister and pastor on bail. I went to SARS, to see what I could do to help him out with my lawyer, but we were told that the man was arrested on allegation of robbery, kidnapping and fraud.
The lawyer was denied of seeing Uwakwe until October 15, when he was taken to court. It was later I got information about NOPRIN. Since then, the Foundation has been trying everything possible to bring Uwakwe out of prison.” The National Coordinator of NOPRIN, Okechukwu Nwanguma said that on October 9, 2014, NOPRIN received a complaint concerning the indefinite detention of Uwakwe, a motorcycle spare parts dealer. He said: “Uwakwe had travelled in December 2013 to his home town in Imo State for his traditional marriage and while there, he received information that he was wanted by SARS, Ikeja, in connection with allegations of armed robbery, kidnapping and obtaining by trick, popularly called 419, all at once. In his absence, SARS operatives arrested his elder sister, Nkechi Uwakwe and her Pastor.
They were detained pending when Uwakwe would show up.” Nwanguma noted that after Uwakwe was done with his traditional marriage, he returned to Lagos on January 4, 2014, and immediately presented himself at SARS. The activist said that it was unconstitutional and a gross violation of the human rights of the accused person for the police to have detained him for a period of nearly 10 months without either granting him bail or promptly charging him to court. “The law does not permit detention of anyone beyond the maximum period of 48 hours,” stated Nwanguma. The Police, however, said however that Uwakwe’s family members of were lying.
According to the police, Uwakwe did not report himself to SARS office, but was arrested by a team of policemen at Imo State, where he fled to after a robbery operation. A police source said: “The suspect didn’t hand himself over to the police. He was arrested in Imo State. The matter had been charged to court. He was charged to court two weeks ago. He is a confirmed armed robber. In SARS, people are not arrested just anyhow. There is no way that we can grant bail to a suspected armed robber. We usually charge them to court. He used to sell spare parts before he took to robbery. We don’t know him. It was his own gang members that mentioned him. We tracked him to Imo State and arrested him, using his phone number.”
Read More http://newtelegraphonline.com/groom-spends-honeymoon-in-detention/
The suspect, Uwakwe was said to be at the village, about to have his traditional wedding when he got news that SARS men wanted him for questioning. Rather than have a honeymoon with his wife, he quickly dashed back to Lagos.
He reported himself to SARS and was promptly detained. Police, however, said that the suspect’s family members were lying. According to the family, before the arrival of Uwakwe to Lagos, his sister, Nkechi, and her pastor had been arrested in proxy. They were, however, released after the suspect was arrested.
Uwakwe’s brother-in-law, Chief Lawrence Umeh said he was disturbed that Uwakwe’s offence was not really known. Determined to get Uwakwe out on bail, Umeh had sought the intervention of the Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria (NOPRIN), a non-governmental organisation. Umeh, who said that he works with soldiers, said: “Immediately Uwakwe came back from the village, he made himself available to SARS. This made the police to release his sister and pastor on bail. I went to SARS, to see what I could do to help him out with my lawyer, but we were told that the man was arrested on allegation of robbery, kidnapping and fraud. The lawyer was denied of seeing Uwakwe until October 15, when he was taken to court.
It was later I got information about NOPRIN. Since then, the Foundation has been trying everything possible to bring Uwakwe out of prison.” The National Coordinator of NOPRIN, Okechukwu Nwanguma said that on October 9, 2014, NOPRIN received a complaint concerning the indefinite detention of Uwakwe, a motorcycle spare parts dealer. He said: “Uwakwe had travelled in December 2013 to hisThe family members of Ekenechukwu Uwakwe, a motorcycle spare parts dealer at Ebute-Meta, Lagos, have revealed how their brother was arrested and detained at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja, Lagos, moments after his traditional wedding. The suspect, Uwakwe was said to be at the village, about to have his traditional wedding when he got news that SARS men wanted him for questioning. Rather than have a honeymoon with his wife, he quickly dashed back to Lagos.
He reported himself to SARS and was promptly detained. Police, however, said that the suspect’s family members were lying. According to the family, before the arrival of Uwakwe to Lagos, his sister, Nkechi, and her pastor had been arrested in proxy. They were, however, released after the suspect was arrested. Uwakwe’s brother-in-law, Chief Lawrence Umeh said he was disturbed that Uwakwe’s offence was not really known. Determined to get Uwakwe out on bail, Umeh had sought the intervention of the Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria (NOPRIN), a non-governmental organisation. Umeh, who said that he works with soldiers, said: “Immediately Uwakwe came back from the village, he made himself available to SARS. This made the police to release his sister and pastor on bail. I went to SARS, to see what I could do to help him out with my lawyer, but we were told that the man was arrested on allegation of robbery, kidnapping and fraud.
The lawyer was denied of seeing Uwakwe until October 15, when he was taken to court. It was later I got information about NOPRIN. Since then, the Foundation has been trying everything possible to bring Uwakwe out of prison.” The National Coordinator of NOPRIN, Okechukwu Nwanguma said that on October 9, 2014, NOPRIN received a complaint concerning the indefinite detention of Uwakwe, a motorcycle spare parts dealer. He said: “Uwakwe had travelled in December 2013 to his home town in Imo State for his traditional marriage and while there, he received information that he was wanted by SARS, Ikeja, in connection with allegations of armed robbery, kidnapping and obtaining by trick, popularly called 419, all at once. In his absence, SARS operatives arrested his elder sister, Nkechi Uwakwe and her Pastor.
They were detained pending when Uwakwe would show up.” Nwanguma noted that after Uwakwe was done with his traditional marriage, he returned to Lagos on January 4, 2014, and immediately presented himself at SARS. The activist said that it was unconstitutional and a gross violation of the human rights of the accused person for the police to have detained him for a period of nearly 10 months without either granting him bail or promptly charging him to court. “The law does not permit detention of anyone beyond the maximum period of 48 hours,” stated Nwanguma. The Police, however, said however that Uwakwe’s family members of were lying.
According to the police, Uwakwe did not report himself to SARS office, but was arrested by a team of policemen at Imo State, where he fled to after a robbery operation. A police source said: “The suspect didn’t hand himself over to the police. He was arrested in Imo State. The matter had been charged to court. He was charged to court two weeks ago. He is a confirmed armed robber. In SARS, people are not arrested just anyhow. There is no way that we can grant bail to a suspected armed robber. We usually charge them to court. He used to sell spare parts before he took to robbery. We don’t know him. It was his own gang members that mentioned him. We tracked him to Imo State and arrested him, using his phone number.”
Read More http://newtelegraphonline.com/groom-spends-honeymoon-in-detention/
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