A woman, Mrs. Bridget Iwelu, has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police Suleiman Abba, against officers and men of the Area C Police Command in Awka, Anambra State for failure to properly investigate the case of abduction of her son, Emeka Kelvin Shoremekun.
In the petition signed by her counsel, Jiti Ogunye, Esq; Mrs. Iwelu, narrated how her son, Kelvin, a 19-year-old undergraduate of the Nnamdi Azikwe University, Awka, Anambra State, disappeared from his hostel in June 2013, and the haphazard way and manner the Police in Awka, have been handling the investigation ever since.
According to her, the case of her son’s disappearance was immediately reported at Area C Police Command because the University was paralysed then as a result of strike action.
The petitioner is however disturbed that a year after, her son is still missing and the Police seem helpless hence, the resolve to call on IGP Abba, to come to her aid.
“Sir, our Client is conversant with the general state of insecurity in our Country, and the enormous challenges being confronted by the law-enforcement and security agencies in tackling the myriad cases of criminal activities in Nigeria, ranging from murders, armed robbery, kidnapping, ritual killings, oil-pipeline vandalism and theft of crude oil and petroleum products, and now the Boko Haram Insurgency.
“In these circumstances, the Police may appear overwhelmed with the enormity of these security problems. However, our Client refuses to accept that in the above-narrated circumstances of her son’s abduction, kidnap or disappearance, the Nigeria Police Force, Area “C” Command, Awka, Anambra State is helpless, and can do nothing.
“Master Emeka Kelvin Shoremekun, a university undergraduate of a Nigerian University was forcibly taken from or lured out of his hostel room, and since then has not been seen. He had room mates, class mates and “friends”, who can be grilled and thoroughly investigated in order to discover the truth about his disappearance.
“Profiled cult gangs in the University can be screened to determine whether any one of them was responsible for the kidnap/abduction. The Nnamdi Azikiwe University Authority that was acting in loco parentis ought to have been made to answer certain questions.
“Master Emeka Kelvin Shoremekun had a cell phone, the call-log of which can be obtained for the purpose of investigation and conducting intense scrutiny of his call and SMS history, in spite of the removal and “disappearance” of the SIM Card.
“Three months after the disappearance of this university undergraduate, some unknown persons called his family on a cell-phone claiming that he was with them, and that “he was fine’. That call can be traced to the person or area where the call was made; and voice-matching and comparison can be undertaken. In the circumstances, all these could provide vital clues and leads, but the Police have failed to act.
“Sir, our client is not a police institution, parading crime detection and investigation prowess. And we, her legal practitioner are not also. But the search for the whereabouts of Master Emeka Kelvin Shoremekun is not as hopeless as the lethargy of the Police would make the matter appear.
“Master Emeka Kelvin Shoremekun did not vanish into thin air. He did not fall victim of ritual murderers while wandering on the street. He was taken from a school hostel, a place where we think, without playing police, investigation ought to have started. Unfortunately, beyond the perfunctory and lazy first steps taken by the Police, no further step has been taken by the Police.
“Sir, the attitude of the Police in Awka to the plight of our client and other members of her family over this matter cannot be right. Even when we know that hundreds of young people have been kidnapped in other parts of our Country and have been criminally held for months without rescue, that does not imply that the “isolated” case of Master Emeka Kelvin Shoremekun is too inconsequential to warrant being conscientiously, dedicatedly and diligently pursued.
“He is a Nigerian that has and should continue to have a full protection of the law, regardless of whether he was kidnapped/ abducted alone or along with others. The number ought not to matter. The act itself should generate the requisite law enforcement outrage.
“Sir, we pray that you constitute an Inspector-General Team from the Force Headquarters to take over this case and comprehensively investigate same, with a view to securing the release of Master Emeka Kelvin Shoremekun from where he is being held captive, and bringing his abductors to justice.
“Our client reposed so much trust and confidence in the Police. These have waned considerably, but could be revived by a swift action from you, Sir.
“Our Client is of the strong view that the authority and power of the Nigeria Police Force have not been fully utilized in finding her son.
“Our Client is willing, ready and prepared to give the necessary assistance and cooperation to the investigation team that may be constituted to take over this matter, as requested.
“We are hopeful that you will treat this matter with the urgency it deserves,” the petition signed by Jiti Ogunye, counsel to Mrs. Iwelu stated in part.