Before his arrest, Iheme was working for a church whose name his relatives struggle to remember. ‘Divine Ministry’, they think it is called.
The police accused the security guard of conspiring to kidnap his boss, but he never got his day in court to mount a defence. Months later, the police told Winifred Peace, his girlfriend, to stop visiting the station, as he was no longer there. That was the last time anyone heard of him.
On Tuesday, Peace told FIJ that she used to visit her boyfriend in the police’s custody when he was first arrested, but sometime in April, a policeman simply identified as Theophilus, stopped her from coming.
Recalling Iheme’s journey to Tiger Base, Peace said, “He was working as a security for the church, and earning N30,000 a month.
”I used to stay with him in the church premises until we had an issue. He said something that got me offended, so I packed out.
“Not long after, I heard that kidnappers gained entry into the church and shot at the founder three times but she was unhurt. Her brother ran out to rescue her. They shot at him and he died in the spot.
”When Iheme came out, the perpetrators had left. So, the founder told him to return to his duty post. He must have thought all was fine, but the next day, she brought policemen to arrest him.”
Peace said that when she learnt of his detention about a month later, she began visiting him. During her visit, she found that the police were accusing him of setting up an ambush and conspiring with the kidnappers.
Months later, he was gone.
”I used to go with one of his friends,” she told FIJ. “We would take food to him regularly until Theophilus told us to stop coming because he was no longer there.”
She also said that Iheme’s family hired a lawyer to file a fundamental rights suit against the police, but after a while, another lawyer began looking into the matter.
On Wednesday, FIJ called this lawyer, Ofoma Herbert.
During the call, Herbert told FIJ that he began probing the matter after the police stopped Peace from visiting.
”I made some calls at the time to people I know in the force,” Herbert told FIJ. “One of them told me that there was no one with that name in their custody.
”Yes, there are suspicions that the police might have killed him in their custody, but because they are denying he was ever there, it is difficult.”
FIJ again asked if Peace saw Iheme during her visits to the station, and she repeatedly said “yes”.
On Wednesday, FIJ called Theophilus. During the call, he claimed he did not know the name, but after FIJ narrated the incident as Peace recalled it, he said, “I’m beginning to remember the case. Just hold on, let me finish eating. I’m outside, let me finish eating.”
At press time on Thursday, he had yet to confirm if he had finished eating or returned FIJs calls. He also did not respond when FIJ tried reaching him again.
FIJ also called Henry Okoye, spokesman for the Imo State Police Command, but he did not take or return the calls.
Credit FIJ
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