The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has petitioned the Abia State Police Command to open an independent investigation into the disappearance of a man who was last confirmed to be in police custody more than three and a half years ago.
RULAAC says Chinedu Chris Ndu, then about 30 years old, has not been seen or heard from since he was arrested by officers of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) in Aba North on 30 January 2023.
In a petition addressed to the Commissioner of Police, RULAAC’s Executive Director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, called for the case to be handled by officers with no prior connection to RRS Aba North, describing the goal as establishing “the fate and whereabouts of Mr Chinedu Chris Ndu.”
According to the petition, Ndu’s brother, Barrister D. C. Ndu, received a brief call from Chinedu on the day of his arrest. The call reportedly lasted only about ten seconds, just long enough for Chinedu to say: “Chi, I have just been arrested by RRS, RRS Aba North.” The line then went dead, and the family says they were unable to reach him again.
The following day, the family patriarch, 75-year-old Emmanuel Nduigwe, went to the RRS facility and says he was allowed to see his son after paying ₦500. He reportedly told relatives that Chinedu said he had not been informed of any charge against him and had never been asked to make a statement.
RULAAC’s petition states that Chinedu described a female officer known as “Queen,” attached to a surveillance unit reportedly headed by an officer identified as DSP Dan, as the person who ordered him placed in a cell. When Nduigwe sought answers, the RRS Commander — identified by the family only as “Johnbull” allegedly told him to come back the following Tuesday.
When Nduigwe returned on 7 February 2023, he says he was told his son had already been released. But according to the petition, when he pressed for basic details the date of release, who authorised it, who signed for it “no satisfactory answer or documentary evidence of the purported release was provided.” The family also alleges officers later threatened Nduigwe over his repeated inquiries.
The family says a lawyer they hired, Duru Esq., who has since died, went to the station to make further inquiries. There, the petition states, an officer identified as Inspector Alizor “produced a list of persons in custody,” on which “Ndu Chinedu Chris” reportedly appeared as No. 30, with no accusation recorded against his name.
Separately, Barrister Ndu says he called the phone number Chinedu had used for his original ten-second call. A man answered and said he had also been detained at RRS Aba North and had encountered Chinedu in the cell before his own release, but said he did not know what became of him afterwards, only that some detainees were being moved to prison.
The petition details subsequent searches by Barrister Ndu at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Umuahia, where he was taken to the detention facility but did not find his brother, and at the Umuahia Correctional Centre, where a records search turned up no trace of Chinedu. A follow-up call to the Aba Correctional Centre reportedly yielded the same negative result.
RULAAC identifies the correctional officer who assisted with that search as ASP Eme, describing him as “a potentially important witness.”
The petition adds that Eme reportedly cautioned Barrister Ndu against approaching RRS Aba North alone, citing his own experience with the detention of a family member at the same facility.
The family first petitioned the National Human Rights Commission in Umuahia on 9 March 2023, six weeks after the arrest, asking that police be compelled to account for Chinedu. RULAAC says that intervention did not resolve the matter, and Chinedu’s whereabouts remain unknown to this day.
In its petition, RULAAC laid out ten specific demands, including securing RRS Aba North’s station diary, cell register and bail records; identifying and interviewing the named officers; tracing whether Chinedu was ever transferred to another facility; and producing documentary proof of the claimed release down to a signature, fingerprint or other acknowledgement from Chinedu himself.
The group did not mince words about the stakes. If Chinedu was truly released, the petition asks, “what contemporaneous official record proves that he left police custody alive?” And if he was transferred elsewhere, it says, “there should be a corresponding documentary trail establishing his movement and destination.”
RULAAC has asked the Commissioner of Police to acknowledge the petition and name the officer assigned to investigate.
