Palpable tension has gripped the people of Okwu, Emekuku, in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State, following the alleged death of their son, Omeni Ajaero, in police custody.
Some concerned natives of the community, who spoke on strict grounds of anonymity, traced the sad incident to internal family squabble arising from a bitter tussle over family property.
“Late J. N. Ajaero married three wives and since he died, the family has never known peace because of the scramble for the property left behind by their father.
‘’The bad blood created by this scramble was very deep and has degenerated to what has just happened,” a villager claimed.
Giving a graphic account of how Omeni Ajaero died, his younger brother, Uwaoma Ajaero, recalled how his elder brother and himself willingly reported themselves to the State Police Headquarters, Owerri, in full compliance with a police invitation.
He said: “On arrival at the State Police Headquarters, Owerri, we were told that Thaddeus Ajaero and Edwin Ajaero, the sons of my late father’s first wife had proceeded to Zone 9 Headquarters, Umuahia.
‘’We were also informed that police officers from Zone 9 were already waiting to take us to Umuahia.
“We were arrested, handcuffed, and whisked away to Zone 9, Umuahia, where the two of us made statements and were detained.”
He also recalled that on May 5, 2015, the investigative police officer, IPO, and one of his colleagues came to the cell where they were detained, called out his brother and took him away.
“About two hours later, the IPO and his colleague called me out of the cell and ordered me to fill the bail bonds for myself and my yet-to-be-seen brother. Upon inquiry about the whereabouts of my brother, the IPO said that he was outside,” Uwaoma said.
He also recalled that after completing the formalities for the bail bond, the IPO took him to where his vehicle was parked and he saw his brother in the vehicle, foaming from his mouth and groaning, as he could no longer talk.
Uwaoma said that not being quite sure of what he was seeing, he sought to know what went wrong, adding that the IPO replied that midway into the interrogation, Omeni started behaving in a manner he could not understand.
’The opinion of the IPO was that Omeni may be reacting to the injection administered on him,” Uwaoma recalled with grief.
“The IPO said he took him to the nearby police hospital, where he was given an injection and later referred to Emekuku mission hospital.
‘’He was also referred to the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, where he died May 7, 2015, when all efforts to revive him failed,” Uwaoma said.
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