Several sources knowledgeable about the ongoing investigation into the kidnap and continued disappearance of Lotachukwu (Lota) Ezeudu have disclosed that a doctor with the Enugu Prisons is involved in a scam to release one of the suspects from detention.
The sources revealed that the prison doctor has authored a deceptive medical report claiming that the suspect, Uche Moses Amajor, is suffering from hepatitis and should be allowed to go home and seek medical treatment.
One of our sources, who works at the prison facility in Enugu, told SaharaReporters, “God can never forgive any prison official who takes bribe to help a man as dangerous as Uche Amajor to regain freedom.”
Two of the sources said Uche Amajor’s father, who owns Prosper Hotel in Trans-Ekulu, a suburb of Enugu, was responsible for bribing a few unscrupulous prison officials to facilitate his son’s release from jail.
Lota Ezeudu, a second-year accountancy student at the University of Nigeria, was kidnapped in late September 2009 by a criminal ring sponsored by a Divisional Police Officer, Sam Chukwu. Mr. Chukwu, whose son, Nnaemeka Chukwu, is currently detained in prison awaiting trial, went into hiding after prosecutors declared him a suspect. He has failed to show up at several court dates.
However, a source within the judiciary in Enugu told us that a lawyer for the fugitive DPO has stated that Mr. Chukwu wants to be tried by a different judge. Other sources reported that the DPO had told associates that he had shopped for a judge who has agreed to rule that he should not face prosecution over the kidnap of Mr. Lota Ezeudu.
SaharaReporters has done numerous investigative reports detailing the DPO’s extensive criminal activities during the nearly 17 years he served in the Enugu metropolis. Numerous residents of Enugu accused him of a reign of terror that included sponsorship of kidnapping activities as well as extra-judicial murders.
Several police sources have told SaharaReporters that Uche Amajor played a key role in the kidnap of Lota Ezeudu, who was 19 years old in 2009.
As police investigators sought Uche Amajor’s arrest and even published his picture in newspapers declaring him wanted, his parents, who reside in Kaduna, kept him in hiding for more than two years. “His father, Chief Amajor, kept telling us that he did not know where his son was,” said a police source. Sources within the police and Enugu State Ministry of Justice stated that Mr. Amajor, the proprietor of Prosper Hotel, finally surrendered his son after prosecutors decided to go after him and treat him as an accessory to his son’s crime.
Ever since his son was remanded in prison custody, Mr. Amajor has used his wealth to make several illicit and fraudulent efforts to secure his son’s release. On one occasion, he approached top police officers in Abuja with concocted stories that his son was unfairly targeted and was being tortured in detention.
In a more daring move, he bribed one Mahmud Isah, an area commander of the Nigeria Police in Funtua, Katsina State, to write a deceptive report claiming that Uche Amajor came to the Funtua police station around the date that Lota Ezeudu was kidnapped to report that some of his personal belongings had been stolen. The fraudulent police report, signed by Mr. Isah, stated that Uche Amajor was robbed at gunpoint as he traveled from Sokoto to Funtua on September 25, 2009.
It took the diligent investigation of police investigators at the Enugu Command to prove that Uche Amajor was not in Funtua on the said date, but in Enugu participating in the kidnap of Lota Ezeudu. Several of the suspects have identified Uche Amajor as one of the key actors in Lota’s kidnap.
An official of the Ministry of Justice said he was shocked at the behavior of Mr. Isah. “It’s a shame that an area commander of the police in Funtua would deliberately issue a false, misleading document with the aim of helping a suspect in a serious crime to go scot free,” he said, adding that the Inspector General of Police Hafiz Ringim should look into the matter and impose stern disciplinary action. “The IG should summarily dismiss people like Mahmud Isah from the police force because they continue to worsen the image of the police and also facilitate the reign of crime in our society,” he added.
Our sources said that, once Mr. Amajor’s effort to bribe his way to a false alibi for his son collapsed, Mr. Amajor then focused on other strategies. He handed out huge bribes to a few unscrupulous prison officials, including a medical doctor, who then wrote a report claiming that Moses Amajor is suffering from “infective hepatitis,” and recommending that the suspect be released to enable him to receive treatment outside the prison.
A source within Enugu Prison told SaharaReporters that the prison doctor’s report “is a total fabrication,” adding that it was “a ploy to release a criminal from jail because his papa has money.” Speaking in a tone of anger, the official, who disclosed that he rejected Mr. Amajor’s offer of a bribe, stated: “If you know you have money, why didn’t you warn your son when he was engaging in criminal activities? Why do you want your son to be released from prison when you did not teach him not to kidnap another man’s son?”
Investigations by SaharaReporters unearthed allegations of Uche Amajor’s extensive criminal record. One police source said Uche Amajor specialized in riding up in “okada” motorcycles and snatching money from customers exiting from banks.
Amajor attended Enugu State University (ESUT) where he spent eight years before earning his bachelor’s degree. Several students who knew him at the university told SaharaReporters that he was known to use the university as a base for crimes, including stealing cars. “Uche Amajor was too much as a student because he was always loaded and everybody feared him, including lectures,” said one of our sources, adding, “he went to class only when he wanted.”
One source told SaharaReporters that an independent doctor who carried out tests on Uche Amajor said there was no evidence that he is suffering from hepatitis. A judge is scheduled to rule soon whether Uche Moses Amajor should remain in prison custody or be released for so-called hepatitis treatment on the strength of a medical report that has provoked some prison officials to call on the director-general of prisons to investigate and discipline the doctor who wrote it.
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