My husband is dying in police custody, wife of detained newspaper vendor cries out

By Nosa Akenzua, Asaba

Eleven days after the police arrested Mr. Patrick Onwuaha, popularly known as Ocha, a newspaper vendor in Asaba, the Delta state capital, the wife, Mrs. Ngozi, has raised the alarm that the husband is sick and dying in police custody.
Mr. Onwuaha, was nabbed without any reason on Thursday May 13th 2021, while doing his legitimate business on that fateful day.
The wife Mrs. Ngozi Onwuaha cried out that her husband who had put in over 15 years in the vendor business was sick adding”He is dying at the Command where he is detained.
Hear her: “They said the order to arrest him was from above. What did he do? I am begging Nigerians to help me because if anything happen to him, it won’t be easy for my family.
“My husband did not kill, he never carried any weapon, or commit any crime, he is not the publisher of the newspapers he is selling, he is just a vendor, trying to feed his family.
“How will you arrest a good citizen who is doing his legitimate business and detain him for over 11 days without stating his offence, no access to medication, and the family.
“My worry is that, my husband is very sick and is dying at the police custody and nothing is being done about it.
“They said they will carry me in a tinted vehicle to madam Flozy’s house who supplied us the newspapers we sell. But I told them that madam Flozy is a popular newspaper vendor in Asaba, that if they go to the newspaper distributors’ centre they will see her there, she is not hiding” she cried out.
“We have been going to the police headquarters, they did not allowed us even me as the wife to see him. They said that the order to armrest him came from above.
“We have gone to the headquarters with a lawyer but did not allowed our lawyers to see him neither did they state his offence. I also went there with the Chairman of Newspaper Vendor Association yet they refused.
Contacted, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Edafe Bright, who confirmed the arrest of the vendor, said he would get back as soon as the Commander in charge returns from his special duty.
Also, Police Commissioner in the State, Mr Ari Muhammad Ali who spoke to our correspondent said” We cannot release the Suspect because he is a strong member of the IPOB who are planning to bomb Delta State Police Stations. Furthermore, he was arrested for alleged kidnappings among others. The Suspect has been hiding under selling of Newspapers as a vendor to commit serious crimes and he was arrested on intelligence gathering. We are still Investigating him and we will not release him because he is a security risk in Delta State. He claimed to have come from a neighbouring state and he had been involved in serious criminal activities in the State”