Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA), on Sunday, asked the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba not to sweep the alleged organ harvesting case involving high-ranking members of the Anambra State Police Command under the carpet.
HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said the IGP should demonstrate that the police won’t shield their own when guilty of grave offenses.
Some police officers at the Rapid Response Squad, Annex, formerly Awkuzu SARS, and Zone 13 Headquarters, Ukpo, had been fingered to be allegedly involved in illegal detention, kidnappings, extrajudicial killings and human organ harvesting by a whistleblower.
Following the allegations, the IGP set up a panel to investigate the matter. But weeks after the investigation panel team was announced by the Force PRO, Muyiwa Adejobi, nothing has yet to be heard from the panel.
In fact, there are reports that some police officers planned to gun down the whistleblower, 26-year-old National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Nnamdi Daniel Emeh, instead of arraigning him in court because of the “volume of information” at his disposal which could implicate several police personnel.
Emeh had been arrested in connection with the multiple cases of killings and organ harvesting by senior police officers to the Anambra State command for “further investigation” after he was declared wanted by the Nigeria Police Force on February 20, 2023, for allegedly impersonating an Assistant Superintendent of Police in Anambra State.
He was said to have been arrested in a joint operation by INTERPOL operatives in the Benin Republic and Nigeria on Friday, March 3, 2023. He was said to have served as an information technology (IT) expert while serving as a tracker in the Command.
HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “The Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba must protect the whistleblower, Nnamdi Daniel from desperate police officers trying to cover up their tracks in the Anambra State Police Command. Nothing must happen to the young man and the case should be immediately sent to court for diligent prosecution of the police officers accused. The IGP must not sweep the Anambra police organ trafficking ring scandal under the carpets. Nigerians are watching.”