Vigilantes detain pregnant woman, 2 kids for 20 days 

Family of Mr Daniel Ikwo in Nnewi, Anambra State, has petitioned the state Commissioner of Police, Ikioye Orutugu, over his detention by operatives of the state security outfit, Udogachi.

The family, in a petition dated June 20, 2025, said Ikwo’s pregnant wife, Cynthia, and their two children were also being detained.

According to the family’s petition signed by their legal counsel, Chijioke Onwe, the security operatives stormed Ikwo’s home in the early hours of May 30, 2025, whisked away the family of four and have since detained them.

The family claimed that after several failed attempts, the operatives allowed them to see Cynthia, and her children; Chizaram (four years) and Chidiogo (two years), at the Udogachi command on June 18, 2025.

However, the family said they were not allowed to go near the detainees, while Daniel was not brought out for them.

They said the officers asked them to return the following day, June 19, which they did along with their lawyers, but they were still denied access to the detained persons.

“We are writing to urgently request your intervention regarding the detention of our clients (a pregnant woman, her husband and her children) as their continued confinement poses serious risks to their health, safety and basic human rights. We respectfully urge your office to investigate this matter immediately and ensure their safe release.”

“In view of the foregoing, we humbly request that you use your good office to promptly intervene and ensure a discreet investigation is launched to address the situation and ascertain why our clients, including a heavily pregnant woman and two toddlers, could be arrested and detained for over 20 days and still counting,” the petition stated.

Speaking on Sunday with newsmen, a member of the family, Nwali Chinedu, said they were yet to know the exact offence committed by either Daniel or his pregnant wife.

“The woman is my sister, and they were abducted from their home on May 30. Up till now, we do not know what offence our sister or her husband committed that would justify the abduction of the entire family, including a four-year-old daughter and her younger sibling,” Chinedu lamented.

A copy of the petition obtained by our correspondent on Saturday bore an official police receipt stamp, indicating that it was received by the commissioner’s office on Friday, June 20, 2025.

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Tochukwu Ikenga, said he would expedite action on the case.

“Thank you for this information. I will escalate it to the leadership of Udogachi for necessary action if such a case exists in their records,” he stated.

To get official reasons for the detention, our correspondent contacted the Special Adviser to Governor Chukwuma Soludo on Community Security, Ken Emeakayi.

However, as of the time of filing this report on Saturday night, he had neither picked his calls nor responded to the text and WhatsApp messages sent to him.

In a swift response, the state Commissioner for Information, Law Mefor, simply said, “Advise such people to go to court.”

Punch