By Ishaya Ibrahim
The Rule of Law Accountability and Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), has protested what it described as an unprofessional conduct of a senior police officer in the handling of a car ownership dispute.
But the senior police officer, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Admin of the Imo police command, Peter Opara, denied the charge in a telephone interview with TheNiche.
The background
The car dispute arose after one Chigozie Ejimadu, a car dealer based in Owerri, informed RULAAC that he bought a white Toyota Venza car from one Mr. Uzoma Obinelu on October 28, 2023.
The proof of ownership of the car seen by TheNiche showed the car belonged to Uzoma Obinelu.
The car dealer also said he carried out the basic verification on the car documents before paying Mr. Uzoma Obinelu the sum of N4.8 million which was the asking price. He then resold the car to a pharmacist.
Wife of Uzoma shows up, laying claim to the car with no evidence
Problem started when a lady walked into the office of the auto dealers in the area to complain that the white Toyota Venza parked at the display area belonged to her.
She however admitted her husband’s name was on the documents. She was then advised by the chairman of the auto dealers to go and sort it out with her husband.
But the woman was said to have returned the next day with a strange man instead of her husband, and that she and the man she came with started threatening Mr. Chigozie Ejimadu (the car dealer) who had to leave the premises to avoid any fracas.
Police unit intervened
Chigozie Ejimadu, the car dealer then reported the case to the Quick Intervention Unit at the Imo State Police Headquarters, according to his complaint to RULAAC.
All the parties were then invited and after narrating their different accounts, the Commander of the unit reportedly told the woman that the person Chigozie Ejimadu had business with was her husband whose documents showed him to be the right owner of the vehicle. The case was dismissed for her to go and settle matters with her husband.
Serious Crimes Unit became involved
According to the petition, some days later, the Pharmacist who bought the car from the dealer drove the vehicle to the market and after buying goods, he returned to where he parked the car and found that his car was no longer there.
The Pharmacist immediately called the car dealer who sold the vehicle to him and told him what had happened. Upon inquiry, they learned that some police officers came with a Sienna and towed the vehicle away.
After several searches at different police stations, the car was traced to the Imo police headquarters. The officers from the Serious Crimes Unit were said to have towed the vehicle to their office.
Story changed
The woman initially claimed that the car was snatched from her husband somewhere at Ikenegbu. But when she was asked to provide her husband at the next date, her husband admitted, upon interrogation, that he sold the car to Chigozie Ejimadu and also admitted that the car belongs to his wife. He sold it without his wife’s consent.
The Commander of the Serious Crime Unit, Supol Frank Akhabue was said to have asked the IPO to obtain the statements of the Pharmacist (the buyer) and Chigozie (dealer), after which they were detained.
According to the dealer, the IPO whose name was given as Bassey, extorted N150,000 from them before releasing them on bail.
RULAAC intervened
When Chigozie brought to RULAAC’s attention the complaint of suspected conspiracy between the operatives at Serious Crimes and the woman to intimidate him, and for detaining and extorting money from him, RULAAC contacted the DC Admin, DC Opara, at the State CID.
“We informed him about the matter and requested that he intervenes by looking dispassionately into the matter with a view to resolving it justly,” RULAAC said in a statement to TheNiche.
According to RULAAC, when Chigozie went to the DC’s office on Monday December 11, accompanied by the chairman of his car dealers association, the DCP, without hearing his story, walked them out of his office.
RULAAC said it was appalled that the DC did not see any problem with the complaint of extortion.
DCP Opara reacts
Our correspondent contacted DCP Opara to hear his own side of the story.
According to the DCP, it was a case of a woman who fell in love with a man. They married, she bought him a car in his name. But shortly after, he wanted to dump her and japa to Canada.
The DCP argued that for the fact that a property was in the husband’s name does not make him the owner. Our correspondent then asked if that will not be for the court to resolve, he said that may be the next step if the parties continue with their agitations.
He then clarified that his intervention was for humanitarian purposes only because his duty is administration and not investigation.
