Charles Ifeanyi, a corps member serving in Awka, Anambra State, has been forced to confess to cultism by officers of the Enugwu Ukwu Anti-Cult.

After the forced confession, Charles, a graduate of economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, was charged N100,000 to be released.

He told FIJ that the officers visited his apartment in a lodge around the Nwafor Orizu College of Education (NONEN), Awka, on February 16.

“I was sleeping around 2 am when these officers came. At first, I didn’t know who they were. I thought they were thieves. They kept shouting that I open the door while I enquired about who they were,” Charles told FIJ.

With threats and a cocked gun pointed at his window, Charles opened the door after the intruders identified themselves as officers from the Enugwu Ukwu Police Anti-Cult. They told him they were looking for someone, so if they checked his room and the person was not there, they would leave.

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“When I opened the door, the first thing they did was to handcuff my friend who was passing the night and me. They saw my NYSC frame and asked if I was a corps member, to which I replied yes,” Charles continued.

Charles’ introduction of himself as a corps member only earned him lenient treatment for a while. After his phone and laptop were collected, he was allowed to switch off his household appliances and pick up his identity card. Then, he was bundled and taken to the station alongside other persons arrested in the building.

“When we got to the station, we were made to sit on the floor and identify our gadgets. Then the orientation began. They told us that if we didn’t want to be touched (beaten), we should admit that we were cultists and not drag issues with them. They told us that was how things were run; we either admitted to being a cultist or a fraudster,” Charles said.

When the first guy was asked if he was a cultist and he denied it, he was taken away from the group to a place called “the shrine”. According to Charles, this is where torture takes place. Not long after his exit, cries of agony and pleas were heard. Eventually, the guy confessed to being a cultist and fraudster, then he was brought back.

“I actually thought it was a set-up, but when the second guy was taken away, the same thing happened. When it was my turn, I refused to say I was a cultist, and was beaten till I coughed out blood. When I realised that these people wouldn’t relent and could kill me, I confessed to what I was not,” he lamented.

During Charles’ interrogation, the corps member identity that earned him lenient treatment earlier earned him a slap. He was called a fool for trying to use that to escape.

“Even army sef, if he misbehave for work, them go lock am for station, you, an ordinary corps member,” one of the officers told Charles in pidgin.

After Charles’ confession, a statement was written by one of the officers on his behalf. Charles, who is literate, asked to write it himself but was refused. He was subsequently accused of being a fraudster in addition to being a cultist.

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“The officer said I was a fraudster, and I told him I just admitted to being a cultist a few minutes earlier. When he insisted that I was a fraudster, I admitted it because they started with me again.”

Charles, his friend and others were kept in a cell till morning. Later that day, one of Charles’ friends went to see him and paid N100,000 in cash. The sum was transferred to her by another friend who was too scared to show his face at the station for fear of being arrested too.

“When the girl who came to see me wanted to transfer to them, they said no. She was asked to go to the nearest POS, withdraw cash and bring it. She did this and I was released,” said Charles.

ANOTHER VICTIM SPEAKS

Another victim of the Enugwu Ukwu Anti-Cult, Anambra State, who was forced to confess to crimes to avoid continuous harassment and death, also spoke to FIJ.

The victim, who simply identified as Ifeanyi, was lying in his room beside his girlfriend sometime in March when he heard sudden noise at the door. The story of his trip to the station is not so different from the former’s. At first, he refused to follow the policemen because he was not a criminal, and that earned him more beating.

“I told them I was not going anywhere with them because they didn’t have any warrant and I didn’t commit any crime. In the process, they started beating me. When we got to the station, my hands and legs were tied up and I was hanged like a criminal,” he said.

After suffering the assault for a while, Ifeanyi confessed to being a ‘Yahoo boy’.

“The pain was too much, and I had to say that I was a criminal, a ‘Yahoo boy’. But I am not. I accepted it because I was struggling, and I was receiving so much pain,” he told FIJ.

After his confession, Ifeanyi and other victims at the station were recorded on video to have confessed to being criminals.

In exchange for his release, he was charged N500,000, but was able to negotiate it down to N100,000 paid in cash by his girlfriend.

Ifeanyi said the officers still visit the neighbourhood about two times weekly.

FEMALES ARE NOT SPARED

A student of the Nwafor Orizu College of Education also spoke to FIJ. Maduka Divine (not real name) said he was arrested and taken to the station alongside his girlfriend.

“My girlfriend was wearing only her nightgown when we were forced to open the door. She wasn’t wearing any underwear when they came in and they asked her to wear it in front of them. I was very sad to see them harrass her like that,” he said.

Maduka explained that even females are not spared when these officers come. To access his building during the arrest, the police went through a lady’s room.

“One day, they might come here and rape someone. The lady through whose room they accessed the building was half-naked when they broke down her door. They beat her for not opening the door and were even flashing torchlight on her as they took us through her room to the station,” he told FIJ.

Maduka who had been arrested twice was forced to confess to crimes.

“I am a graduate of the college of education, but I have two carryovers, and that is why I am still in the area. There’s no money to even pay for school fees, so I have been hustling in someone’s shop at the main market,” Maduka told FIJ.

Luckily, Maduka has never had to pay the police for his release. Being a poor student who could not afford the “bail” on his own means he often resorted to calling “big men” who own shops at the market to save him. Calls were made, and he was released.

REPORT POLICE OFFICERS TO THE POLICE

When FIJ reached out to DSP Ikenganyia Tochukwu Anthony, the police PRO in Anambra State, he said the police force was not aware of the harassment and extortion and didn’t have any report on it. He asked that people report errant police officers to the police.

“We have always been dishing out our number, like the one you called now, to people. The commander has resuscitated it to address such complaints. So, anyone who has such complaints should give us the information needed to aid the arrest of such officers,” Ikenganyia said.

”Currently, the command doesn’t tolerate such and recently, we have named and shamed officers found wanting in this regard.”