BENIN CITY -A Benin-Based Construction company, Piccol Ltd., has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Suliman Abba, for the refusal of the Imo State police command to arrest the former chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Mr. Eze Odimegwu, over alleged conspiracy and stealing.
The petition was filed by the company’s Lawyer, Mr. George Igbokwu, and made available to Journalists on Sunday in Benin City.
Igbokwu, who entitled the petition as “Refusal by the Nigerian Police, Imo state to arrest, interrogate and prosecute Mr. Eze Festus Odimegwu for conspiracy and stealing,’’ said that he had also copied the office of the attorney-General.
He said the former NPC chairman “sometime in April of 2013 allegedly seized piccol’s construction equipments valued at over N250 million and sold them off with callous impunity.’’
The lawyer said that “our client lodged a report to the police and Odimegwu’s agents and co-conspirators were arrested and they all made confessional statements indicting Eze Festus Odimegwu as the person that instructed them to sell off the equipments.
“To our greatest shock and surprise, the Imo state police command has blatantly failed and refused to effect the arrest of Odimegwu citing privilege as National Population chairman as initial reason but later alleged that he had travelled overseas which we discovered to be false,’’ he said.
Igbokwu in the petition said Odimegwu had “callously refused to honour all police invitations in his usual pride of looking down on everybody including the commissioner of police, Imo state and his officers, who out of frustration, arraigned his co-conspirators at a Chief Magistrates’ court sitting in Awo-idemile in charge No. MOS/35c/2014 with Odimegwu described as being at large.
“On February 17, 2014, however, we saw the said “fugitive’’ on channels Television in his loquacious and self righteous manner talking politics and insulting Mr. President and yet, refusing to respond to police invitation in Imo state.
“It is based on this that we plead with you to employ all your coercive powers and machinery to compel the arrest and prosecution of Odimegwu who from all reliable sources is very much in Nigeria but hiding from the law as the criminal charges may not be successfully prosecuted with him at large since he is the prime suspect,’’ he said.
Igbokwu said “our client as done all things including mobilization and information but the Imo State Police command has proved itself incapable of effecting the simple arrest.’’
Suleman Abba, IGP
