By Athan Agbakwuru, Owerri
A member of House of Representatives for Ideato federal constituency of Imo State, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, has raised alarm over the alleged unceasing atrocious activities of the Tiger Base squad recently renamed Violent Crimes Response Unit, VCRU, of the Imo State Police command.
Ugochinyere who spoke recently in a press conference urged the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Tunde Disu to urgently heed the call of the oppressed and brutalized people of Imo State by disbanding the squad insisting that giving the team a new name will not change anything about their brazen ruthlessness.
The federal lawmaker drew attention to the recent abduction and unlawful detention of two of his constituents, Dim Obinna and Nwosu Maduabuchi Tiger Base operatives purportedly on the orders of the Imo State Governor, noted with dismay that Imolites now live in fear of being framed and brutalized by the cops.
He noted that, one of the victims, also abducted in gestapo style by the ‘notorious’ squad had died in Tiger Base custody while Obinna and Maduabuchi are currently in bad shape as result of the torture being meted to them.
Ugochinyere called on the IGP to swiftly intervene and save the two young children of a widow from dying like several others sent to their untimely graves by the operatives.
While reacting to the clarion call of Ikenga Ugochinyere, some residents of Imo revealed that the whereabouts of the likes of Ikenna Ugwu, Odinaka Ashiegbu, Eziefula Opara, Ugwudi Ugochukwu Marcel Iwu and several others allegedly whisked away for allegedly being members of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB remain uncertain for years now.
The residents who preferred anonymity also alleged that a lot of other innocent citizens in the ‘Wanted List’ of the squad are still being harassed on regular basis.
It would be recalled that Amnesty International, InterSociety and several civil society organizations have called out the Imo Police Tiger Base demanding justice and disbandment of the squad for serial cases of unbridled brutality against innocent citizens.
