By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has condemned the continued detention of Mazi Ofornedu Okoafor who was reportedly abducted with his grandfather at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu where he was receiving medical treatment for bullet wounds inflicted on him by the Nigerian Police and soldiers on August 23, 2020 at Emene in Enugu State.

The group wondered why an innocent man injured by the police should be chained to the floor in a police cell rather than receiving treatment in a hospital, saying that it defies logic and common sense.

IPOB said: “This innocent man who did nothing wrong to anybody was unlawfully shot at by the police and rather than being remorseful for the killing of innocent unarmed young people, the same police that inflicted bullet wounds on him for no apparent reason had the effrontery to abduct him from the hospital where he was receiving treatment.

“Since last week he has been without proper medical care with bullets still lodged in his body. The Commissioner of Police wants him to die in police custody from the bullets wounds his men illegally inflicted on him.

“Incredibly and without shame nor any modicum of honour, the Igbo DPO and other police officers in Enugu Central Police Station are demanding for more than Two Hundred Thousand Naira before they can talk about his release from detention for medical treatment. To make matters worse, these were the same police officers that shot him without provocation and killed 21 of his other colleagues.

“It’s quite abnormal that police released his grandfather having first extorted the sum of Fifty Five Thousand Naira as bribe. An old man whose only crime was to rush to the aid of his grandson illegally attacked by the police.”

IPOB called the attention of the UK and USA government on the culture of extortion and brazen criminality within the Nigerian Police.

The group added: “We wish to notify the British High Commissioner to Nigeria and the whole world that Mazi Ofornedu Okoafor is still in the hands of Nigeria police and is being denied proper medical treatment and the Nigerian police are demanding for a huge sum of money for his bail. This is the worst form of kidnapping. We are also aware of the plans of the Fulani terrorists police in Enugu state to arrest his father Mazi Longinus Okoafor.

“The Commissioner of Police in Enugu State on whose order this recent abduction of Ofornedu Okoafor was made must understand the consequences of his actions.

“He must release Mazi Ofornedu Okoafor before it’s too late for him.”

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