Residents of Orlu and other surrounding towns arrested in military and police crackdowns, including a 68-year-old grandfather have been paraded by the police as operatives of the Eastern Security Network, ESN/unknown gunmen.
Police paraded twenty-six persons it claimed were the attackers of Omuma and Njaba Police Stations in the State.
It said it also swiftly repelled the bandits’ attack in which one of the bandits identified as Emmanuel Nnaji, who hails from Awala in Ideator LGA was arrested with bullet wounds, while a Divisional Police Officer also lost his life.
In a statement issued on Monday by the Command Public Relations Officers, CSP Michael Abatham, the Commissioner of Police, CP Abutu Yaro, said that on interrogation by the command’s tactical teams, the suspect gave a vivid description of a hotel located in Orlu where they stayed, planned, before they carried out their dastardly act on the police stations.
According to the CP, the suspect said that the owner of the Hotel had been accommodating and assisting them financially.
The CP added that the suspect had volunteered information and led security forces to the location of the hotel where they arrested 26 suspects including seven females.
CP Yaro said that it was also discovered that it was the same hotel that the human head that was severed and placed on the road closed to the hotel adding that investigation into the matter was ongoing while the suspects were under going on interrogations.
The police said items recovered included one AK-47 rifle with two magazines loaded with 55 rounds of live ammunition, five pump action guns, two double-barrel cuts to size guns, four double-barrel locally made pistols and three single barrel locally-made pistols among others.
But families have disputed the claims by police, saying that some of the people paraded by the police as unknown gunmen/ESN operatives were abducted from their homes in mass raids by the police and the military.
One of such men is Ikechukwu Clifford Adidiri, a 68-year-old grandfather who was abducted from his home in Ebenese village of Umuezenachi Ihioma community of Orlu local government area.
He was abducted by military personnel who invaded his home in six Hilux trucks while he was eating with his children and brother.
They also burnt down his house and took him to an unknown destination only to be paraded a day, his family said.
Another victim of the mass arrest paraded as unknown gunman is 15-year-old Elvis Okafor who was arrested on his way to buy food stuff for his sick mom, his family said.
Gideon Dominics, his cousin told Standardobservers that Elvis came back from church and was asked to buy food stuff for his mum before he was arrested and paraded by the police as unknown gunman.
