Suspected Terrorists K!dnap Police Inspector On Duty In Imo, Family Laments Command’s Silence
Suspected Terrorists Kidnap Police Inspector On Duty In Imo, Family Laments Command’s Silence
gunmen
Speaking to SaharaReporters on Saturday, a direct sibling of the abducted officer exposed how the family’s frantic appeals for assistance from the state police command have been completely stonewalled.
Deep anxiety and anger have gripped the family of a serving police officer, Inspector Eku Egim Eku, who was violently ambushed and abducted by heavily armed terrorists while on official state duty in the volatile Orlu axis of Imo State.
The distraught family members have blown the lid on alleged institutional abandonment, accusing the Imo State Commissioner of Police, Audu Garba Bosso, of showing absolute “indifference” and refusing to deploy tactical search-and-rescue teams to track down the kidnappers.
Speaking to SaharaReporters on Saturday, a direct sibling of the abducted officer exposed how the family’s frantic appeals for assistance from the state police command have been completely stonewalled.
SaharaReporters gathered that Inspector Eku was officially drafted by his unit command on Monday to provide armed security escort and bank guard services at a financial institution in Orlu town—a geographic zone that has been heavily criminalized by violent separatist gunmen and rogue militia cells.
The inspector was, however, intercepted midway through his journey by the gunmen, disarmed, and dragged into the dense forests characteristically used by terrorists as operational bases in the state.
“One inspector, EKU EGIM EKU, has been kidnapped by armed terrorists in Imo State,” the victim’s brother cried out to SaharaReporters.
“The said inspector is my brother. He was kidnapped on Monday while on his way to Orlu in Imo State for a bank guard duty.”
The most damning aspect of the officer’s disappearance is the alleged refusal of the top brass of the Imo State Police Command to acknowledge the incident or initiate standard hostage-rescue protocols, leaving the family entirely at the mercy of the non-state actors.
The source lamented that five days after the state-actor was captured while flying the flag of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the command has not offered a shred of operational or psychological solidarity to his immediate kin.
“All efforts from us the family proved abortive as the command CP is totally not willing to offer any support,” the heartbroken sibling revealed on Saturday.
Meanwhile, all efforts by SaharaReporters to speak with the Imo State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Henry Okoye, regarding the incident were completely unsuccessful.
The command’s spokesperson did not answer multiple phone calls placed to his mobile line and failed to respond to a detailed text message seeking his comment over the development as of the time of filing this report.
SaharaReporters reports that the Orlu senatorial district of Imo State has degenerated into a high-risk zone for uniform-wearing security personnel.
Dozens of soldiers, police operatives, and civil defense corps members have been killed, decapitated, or vanished without a trace along this axis over the past few years.
Security analysts have repeatedly criticised the police hierarchy for failing to provide adequate armored transport or tactical air surveillance for personnel deployed to high-risk zones like Orlu, effectively leaving lower-ranking officers vulnerable to well-armed ambush squads.
