[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Nigerian Police Force invaded the home of one Barrister Ifeanyi Ejiofor on the 3rd of December 2019. Barrister Ejiofor is the lawyer to the acclaimed leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the self-acclaimed leader of the Biafran Movement.
This invasion, which the police earlier denied ever happened, but later accepted, generated accusations and counter-accusation between the Nigerian Police and IPOB on whose side lost men to the raid. IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu claimed some IPOB members were killed by the police, while the Nigerian Police claimed some of their officers were earlier attacked and wounded by some IPOB members who were taking refuge in Mr. Ejiofor’s home, which was the reason they (the police) went to the compound to make arrest.
While all these accusations and counter-accusations were ongoing, what most people did not know according to inside source, who pleaded anonymity for security reasons, is that the real target of the raid was neither Mr. Ejiofor nor the IPOB members who were alleged to have attacked some police officers, rather a Lagos based businessman, Emeka Ndulue, who had been having messy lawsuits against the Nigerian Police for unjustly killing his father earlier in 2011. The inside source revealed that Emeka and his lawyer had received various threats from men of the Nigerian Police because of their demands in the legal tussle, which the police viewed as way overboard.
The source revealed that the Nigerian Police obtained personal and security information on Emeka which suggest that he identifies with the Indigenous People of Biafra, and then, a combined team of armed personnel moved swiftly to arrest him at home in Lagos sometime in August 2019, but Emeka was not home at the time, however, some people were arrested in his home while materials relating to IPOB activities were retrieved.
The source further stated that upon review of these IPOB materials retrieved from Emeka’s home, the Nigerian Police concluded that Emeka was having regular IPOB related meetings in Mr. Ejiofor’s home in Oraifite, Ekwusigo, and that he might have been hiding in the same location at the time, hence the raid of the building on December 3, 2019. The source said since Emeka could not be found during the raid, there was the need for the police to come up with excuses while they went there in the first place.
A close associate of Barrister Ejiofor, Ikenna (real name withheld for security reason) said they, within the IPOB struggle, know the reason why the police invaded Ejiofor’s home, but chose not to blow it open for the security of Mr. Emeka’s business and other family members. Ikenna said reliable information reaching them is that the police and other security agencies are hunting for Emeka everywhere so that they can silent him.
Discussion with few people in Oraifite who have the real information of what actually happened on 3rd of December 2019, revealed that many of them are very angry as they feel Emeka is being targeted because of his legal battle with the Nigerian Police, and the Police is exploiting his IPOB membership to serve him both judicial and extra-judicial torture since IPOB has been proscribed, with the members being killed extra-judicially.
Obinna Victor Ubah is a public affairs analyst who lives and works in Awka, Anambra State.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
