Tension rose in Umuahia yesterday as residents of Ikwuano Local Government Area marched to the Anti-Cult Unit of the Abia State Police Command, Olokoro, carrying the body of Mrs. Williams, wife of the Leader of the Ikwuano Legislative Council, Ejike Williams.
The protesters, who arrived in their numbers, accused operatives of the unit of contributing to the woman’s death.
Mrs. Williams, a nursing mother who delivered barely nine days earlier, was said to have collapsed shortly after her husband and three other councillors were allegedly assaulted and detained by policemen over a petition reportedly filed by a revenue agent.
Her sudden death triggered widespread anger in Ikwuano communities, prompting villagers to march the corpse to the Anti-Cult Unit, insisting that the officers involved must be held accountable.
The aggrieved villagers lamented that the police refused repeated pleas to release the detained councillor to attend to his wife, despite her delicate post-natal condition.
As tensions mounted, officers of the unit later accompanied the villagers to deposit the woman’s remains at Madonna Hospital Mortuary, Aba Road, Umuahia, pending a full investigation.
Narrating the incident to journalists at the hospital, the Special Assistant to Governor Alex Otti on Digital Economy, Chimeremeze Emeruwa, said a police officer at the unit, known as Tiger, assaulted him on Tuesday for pleading for the release of Ejike Williams, the Leader of the Ikwuano Legislative Council.
He pounced on me because I pleaded with the police to release the man to go and see his wife who just gave birth some days ago.
Now the woman is dead. We will definitely take legal action against this high-handedness, Emeruwa said.
He further alleged that officers at the unit rebuffed intervention efforts by the Mayor of Ikwuano LGA, Anthony Nwaubani, insisting they take instructions only from Governor Alex Otti and the Commissioner of Police, Danladi Isa.
Some councillors who were detained at the unit—including the bereaved husband, Ejike Williams, Sunday Uche Okoro, Ukazu Ejike and Akobundu Agomou—also alleged that they were beaten inside the cell by policemen and other detainees, despite paying huge sums of money to the police for bail.
They claimed their arrest stemmed from an unverified petition allegedly instigated by an individual.