By Juliana Francis
A Lagos housewife, Mrs Uchenna Peace, has appealed to the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police and human rights organisations to intervene in the case of her husband, Okoro Uchenna, who is being held at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre over a disputed tricycle hire-purchase agreement.
Peace alleged that her husband had been treated unfairly and accused the police of handling the matter in a manner that favoured the other party.
She urged the IGP to direct officers of the Isiokoko Police Station to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the dispute.
She also called on human rights activists to assist her husband in securing his release from prison and justice, insisting that a commercial disagreement had escalated into a criminal case that had left her family struggling without its breadwinner.
According to Peace, her husband entered into a hire-purchase agreement with Mrs Lorreta Iji in January 2025 for a tricycle valued at ₦5.3 million. Under the arrangement, he was expected to pay ₦50,000 weekly until March 2027, when ownership of the vehicle would be transferred to him.
However, she said the agreement was beset by difficulties, including an accident, mechanical faults and disruptions that affected her husband’s ability to make payments consistently.
What began as a business arrangement eventually resulted in a dispute over the tricycle, accusations of theft and Okoro’s remand in prison.
“My husband collected the tricycle in January last year and immediately began making the weekly payments,” Peace said.
“He later had an accident, and we paid for the repairs ourselves. In April this year, Lorreta requested an account of the payments and pointed out that he had missed some weeks. My husband explained the challenges he faced, including police disturbances, the accident and the frequent mechanical faults.”
Peace alleged that Iji subsequently increased the weekly instalment from ₦50,000 to ₦65,000.
She said her husband accepted the new terms to keep the agreement alive and paid the revised amount for two weeks before Iji informed him that she had appointed a manager to collect subsequent payments.
According to Peace, the arrangement took another turn when Okoro received an urgent call from his village informing him that his mother was seriously ill.
She said he tried unsuccessfully to reach Iji before informing the newly appointed manager, who allegedly permitted him to travel.
Before leaving, Okoro reportedly handed the tricycle over to the manager for safekeeping.
Peace claimed that when her husband returned about two weeks later, he discovered that the tricycle had allegedly been handed to another person under a fresh hire-purchase arrangement.
She said her husband had already paid ₦3.335 million towards the agreed purchase price of ₦5.3 million, but neither the money nor the tricycle was returned to him.
Peace alleged that Iji repossessed the vehicle without refunding the money her husband had paid, setting the stage for a dispute that would later lead to his imprisonment.
As the disagreement intensified, Okoro reportedly sought the intervention of human rights advocate and Executive Director of the Esther Child Rights Foundation, Esther Ekwem.
According to Peace, Ekwem’s intervention led to the return of the tricycle to her husband and a reduction in the weekly instalment from ₦65,000 to ₦55,000.
Okoro subsequently resumed payments, but another accident soon complicated the arrangement.
Peace said that on July 17, an elderly motorist collided with the tricycle, injuring four passengers and causing substantial damage to the vehicle.
The incident was reported to the Isiokoko Police Station.
“My husband was not at fault. The elderly driver admitted responsibility. The police directed him to pay more than ₦200,000 for the repairs, but he could only raise ₦90,000,” she alleged.
Peace said the Divisional Police Officer advised them to accept the ₦90,000 because of the driver’s age.
She said they accepted the amount and borrowed additional money to repair the tricycle.
“Specifically, we borrowed ₦249,000 on October 9. Later, neighbours informed us that the woman had arrived with some police officers and taken away the tricycle,” she said.
According to Peace, she and her husband went to the police station to report the development and were assured that the matter would be resolved.
However, she alleged that Iji subsequently accused her husband of stealing the tricycle.
Peace said Okoro was later invited by the police and, after honouring the invitation, was taken to court and remanded at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre.
“He was arraigned before Ilorin Magistrate Court, Court 2 and instructed to provide two sureties and ₦100,000 for bail,” she said.
However, Iji denied arresting Okoro or personally initiating the court proceedings, insisting that the police took him to court after he allegedly refused to comply with their instructions at the station.
In her response, she said she would not discuss the substance of the case publicly because it was already before a court.
“I won’t be giving any reply here. If she claims that’s what happened, let her bring the press and say the same story in my face. And for the record, I never arrested him,” Iji said.
She added: “As you know, the case is already in court. I am not really allowed to say anything until the next court date.”
Iji said she had records of Okoro’s payment transactions, alleged breaches of the first and second agreements, and conversations between her and the family.
She also claimed that the family visited her the previous Saturday, during which, according to her, they were told that she had nothing against Okoro and that they could proceed to secure his bail.
“And, as I said, I didn’t arrest him and wasn’t the one who charged him to court. He was charged to court by the police when he refused there at the station,” she said.
Iji further alleged that in May, Peace and her husband took her to a foundation they described as a human rights organisation, where she was pressured into signing another agreement without her consent.
She said her husband later reviewed the document and helped her understand what had happened.
“Fast forward to date, the foundation and the family went away with my money, took decisions without my consent and withheld information from me,” she alleged.
Iji said these issues informed her reluctance to comment further on the dispute.
Ekwem, who said she intervened in the dispute, also questioned the decision to treat the matter as a criminal case, arguing that the payments allegedly made by Okoro should be considered in resolving the disagreement.
She said she personally witnessed a payment of ₦249,000 made in connection with the transaction and alleged that shortly afterwards, Okoro began receiving distress calls informing him that individuals accompanied by police officers in plain clothes had arrived at the location where the tricycle was kept.
According to Ekwem, the development led to a confrontation and the tricycle was taken to the Isiokoko Police Station.
“I told Okoro that if the police invited him, he should cooperate and go with them, and that we would follow up on the matter,” she said.
Ekwem said she was dealing with the death of her sister around the same period, limiting her ability to follow developments in person.
However, she said she sent a staff member and a police officer attached to her organisation to the station the following Monday to establish what had happened.
“When they got there, the tricycle was still at the station, but no statement had been taken. It was only after the authorities became aware that human rights representatives were involved that statements began to be recorded,” she alleged.
Ekwem also accused Iji of providing misleading information about the transaction, although the allegation could not be independently verified.
She argued that the dispute should be examined considering the payments allegedly made by Okoro and the terms of the hire-purchase agreement.
“After collecting over ₦2 million from someone, you cannot simply walk away with both the tricycle and the money. I told her that such actions could have serious legal consequences,” she said.
The activist said she later received an invitation from the Divisional Police Officer while she was occupied with preparations for her sister’s burial.
“My staff informed me that officers had come with an invitation letter from the DPO. I told them I was in the middle of burial arrangements and would visit the station after the funeral,” she said.
Ekwem further alleged that Okoro was invited from his home under the pretext of resolving the dispute but was subsequently taken to court.
She said she was particularly troubled by the allegation of theft, given that Okoro had reportedly made substantial payments towards acquiring the tricycle.
“It was very painful. We were trying to understand the charges against him, and we were told it was theft. If he stole the tricycle, why was he making payments running into millions of naira for it?” she asked.
Ekwem maintained that the dispute required a fair and transparent resolution, urging the parties and the relevant authorities to account for the money paid and the whereabouts of the tricycle.
“What the woman appears to want is to keep both the tricycle and the money, and that can never be right. Either she returns the tricycle or refunds the money,” she said.
She added that the case had placed a heavy burden on Okoro’s family, particularly his wife and young children, who depended on his income.
“This man has a wife and young children who depend on him. You cannot deprive him of his livelihood, keep the tricycle, keep the money and expect justice to be served. It simply cannot happen,” Ekwem said.
Peace appealed to the police authorities and human rights organisations to intervene, insisting that the circumstances surrounding her husband’s detention deserved urgent scrutiny.
She urged the authorities to ensure that the dispute was handled fairly and that all parties were given the opportunity to present their accounts and supporting evidence.
While Peace and Ekwem maintain that Okoro’s payments and the circumstances of the agreement raise questions about the theft allegation, Iji insists that the matter involves breaches of contractual arrangements and denies responsibility for his arrest.
