A trainee nurse from Imo State, Ms Chukwuyere Princess Mmesoma, has accused police officers in Orlu and Owerri of unlawful arrest, torture, sexual humiliation, and retaliatory prosecution following her detention over allegations she insists are false.
Mmesoma, who hails from Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Area, gave her account during multiple interviews with lawyers from the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC).
She said the incidents began on the 16th of July 2025 while she was at her part-time workplace, Evergreen Pharmaceutical Company, Orlu, after completing a morning nursing shift.
According to her account, her employer questioned her attendance pattern before asking her to follow him downstairs, where she encountered two women who later identified themselves as police officers.
“They asked for my phone and then told me to enter their vehicle,” she said. “When I asked where we were going, nobody explained. I only realised I had been taken to a police station when we arrived.”
She was taken to the Orlu Area Command, where officers allegedly compelled her to unlock her phone and remove security settings before questioning her about a man known as “Ebube” and transactions on her OPay account.
Mmesoma said police initially alleged her bank account had been used for criminal activity, but when no evidence was found, the accusations changed.
“They told me Ebube was my boyfriend and that I had travelled with armed robbers to places I had never been,” she said. “Everything they said about me was untrue.”
She denied claims that a female voice recording linked her to a robbery, insisting the voice was not hers.
The trainee nurse further alleged that she was subjected to repeated physical abuse and degrading treatment while in custody.
“I was beaten, threatened and repeatedly forced to undress,” she said, adding that officers photographed and recorded her during interrogations.
She described the experience as humiliating and terrifying, saying the abuse left her traumatised and with lasting health issues.
RULAAC stated that Mmesoma later developed breathing difficulties, which she attributes to injuries sustained during her detention.
Mmesoma said that out of fear for her life, she eventually made false statements after overhearing police discussions about suspects.
“I admitted things that were not true just to make the torture stop,” she said. “Those statements were not voluntary.”
She was later transferred to the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, known as Tiger Base, in Owerri, where she said she was still restrained and beaten, though less severely.
According to her account, an investigating officer at Tiger Base reviewed the case and found inconsistencies. She said it emerged that the alleged voice recording was not hers and that phone records suggested her device may have been used while it was in police custody.
“I begged them to send my phone for forensic analysis,” she said. “I even offered to pay for it, but they refused.”
Following advocacy by civil society groups and media reports, the Imo State Commissioner of Police reportedly ordered a proper investigation and her release if no evidence was found.
Instead, Mmesoma alleged that she was secretly charged to court without her knowledge or that of her lawyers and remanded at the Owerri Correctional Centre.
“I believe this was done to punish me and to cover up what was done to me,” she said.
Mmesoma remains in custody, according to RULAAC, and is said to be in poor health and psychological distress. She continues to deny all allegations against her.
“I am completely innocent,” she said. “I am being prosecuted to hide the abuses I suffered.”
RULAAC noted that the account reflects Mmesoma’s consistent testimony across several interviews and called for an independent investigation into her allegations, as well as accountability for any officers found culpable.
