?Sends SOS to Governor Mbah, IGP Egbetokun

Mrs. Nkoli Nzekwe, wife of a popular Enugu businessman sent to prison by a magistrate court last Thursday, September 26, 2024, has cried out, alleging gang-up between the police and a business rival to unjustly incarcerate her husband, Mr. Tochukwu Nzekwe a.k.a Toshel. She claimed over the weekend that her husband, the Managing Director of an estate company, Toshel Nig. Ltd., is being punished for an offence allegedly committed by one of his company?s drivers.

According to a petition by Nzekwe?s lawyers, Emeka Abah & Co, the genesis of the problem was on May 29, 2024, when one of his company?s truck drivers by name Okechukwu Ofor had an accident at about 7-8pm and allegedly damaged part of an asphalted road still under construction by Eketeson Nig. Ltd.

According to the petition dated 31/05/2024 and addressed to the state Commissioner of Police, CP Kanayo Uzuegbu, three policemen attached to Eketeson descended on the truck driver, beat him to coma and later dumped him at the Independence Layout Police Station. The policemen, according to the petition, acted on the instructions of the Managing Director of Eketeson Nig. Ltd., Mr. Donald Ekete. Some good spirited policemen were said to have taken the brutalised Ofor to the police clinic at the State Police Headquarters where doctors battled for hours to save his life.

However, the case took a dramatic turn after Nzekwe?s petition to CP Uzuegbu demanding justice for his driver. Amidst efforts to settle the matter, Nzekwe was suddenly taken to an Enugu Magistrate Court at about 5:20 p.m. on September 26, charged with promoting local war and ordered remanded in Enugu Correctional Centre.

Lamenting her husband?s ordeal, Mrs. Nkoli Nzekwe said: ?My husband told me that he was called by CP Uzuegbu, a day prior to the incident and was assured that the issues surrounding the damaged road and the brutal assault on the truck driver would be resolved. He was told by the owner of the construction firm, Donald Ekete, that no further action was needed. ?However, as my husband was leaving the place, he was unaware that he was being tracked by a group of men led by an individual known as Lion-King, allegedly identified as an officer from the Enugu State Police Command Headquarters, accompanied by three police officers said to be attached to Mr. Ekete?s security team. These men, alongside the police officers, illegally detained my husband at a hotel, where he was lured under the pretence of a business meeting. Once there, he was ambushed, and his phone was forcibly seized to prevent him from contacting his lawyers. He was violently assaulted, handcuffed, and blindfolded.

?Thereafter, my husband was swiftly arraigned before Magistrate Chukwuani around 5:20 p.m., with three fully armed police officers present in the courtroom, creating an intimidating atmosphere. The group included Mr. Ekete?s personal lawyer and a police prosecutor.?

With tears in her eyes, Mrs. Nkoli Nzekwe appealed to the State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, and the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, to intervene and bring the ordeal of her husband to an end.

?My husband was not the one that drove the truck. He only cried out against the brutal and unrestrained attack on the driver through a petition only for him to be kidnapped, detained and arraigned by proxy,? she lamented.

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