Police officer allegedly kills a final year law student (UNIZIK)

A 27-year-old 500 level law student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, has allegedly been murdered by a police officer.

According to Vanguard, Augustine Ugwu was killed by an officer of the Nigeria Police Force at Nsukka after being trailed by a local security outfit constituted by the chairman of the local government area, Patrick Omeje.

Augustine was said to have gone to a beer parlor at Odobido in Nsukka council area with his friend on Thursday, April 23, 2020. The deceased had just arrived at the beer parlor and ordered a drink when members of the local security outfit (Civilian Anti-cult) arrested him, beat him, and handed him over to the officer in charge of Anti-cult in Nsukka, Ferdinand Nnamdi Ochi.

The publication adds that Ferdinand Ochi murdered the student over a yet-to-be-identified issue.

The father of the deceased, a retired police officer, Andy Ugwu, informed Vanguard that all efforts he has been making to unravel the circumstances which led to the death of his son and equally claim his remains have been futile.

He said: "I reported the case to Nsukka Divisional Officer, DPO, who instructed me to go to O. C Anti-cult, DSP Ferdinand Nnamdi Ochi, to tell me the whereabouts of my son since the local vigilante outfit handed my son over to him.
"When I met him in his office he said the police command directed him not to be receiving any suspect since the outbreak of COVID-19 and that nobody made any case related to me in his office.
"To my surprise, I saw people making entry of their cases in his office. That was when I began to suspect foul play. On leaving his office, an unknown number called and informed me that it was DSP Ochi who killed my son.
"I reported my encounter with him to the DPO and he instructed me to take my complaints to the police area command at Enugu.
"So, it was at Enugu that the area commander instructed the Nsukka DPO to commence a preliminary investigation into the matter while I can go anywhere with my petition. It was on the strength of that advice that the DPO reluctantly accepted to commence the investigation.

Vanguard contacted the leader of the local security gang, Oliver Ozioko, to ask about the arrest of Augustine Ugwu and he said: "All I can say is that we arrested him and handed him over to the police in Nsukka."

The spokesperson of the Enugu State Police Command, Daniel Ndukwe, said the allegation is still being investigated by the command.