By Vincent Ujumadu, Awka

A widow, Mrs. Elizabeth Nwadike, says one of her children was reportedly killed without the corpse produced while two others, allegedly arrested by men purported to be security agents between 2012 and 2014 at Oraifite in Ekwusigo local government area of Anambra State, have been missing since then.

She spoke to a group of concerned citizens of Oraifite over alleged human rights abuses perpetrated by some people in the community, saying she had become childless due to what she described as “man’s inhumanity to man”.

She said: “My son Ikechukwu returned from overseas in 2012. One day, some people forcefully entered our house. They went into my son’s room and removed everything, including his clothes, chairs, telephones.

“We were afraid and, when we asked what was happening, they threatened to arrest us too. “We initially didn’t know that they took him to Awkuzu Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, but we immediately launched a search party for him and the search lasted several months;  we eventually traced him to Awkuzu SARS and hired a lawyer to help us in the matter.

“Whenever we went to the SARS office, thereafter. we saw him, but surprisingly during one of our visits, we could not see him and our lawyer merely said we should go. Since then, I haven’t seen my son.

“In 2013, one particular morning, I got information that my second son, a twin, was killed at his work place. We rushed to the place but saw only his shoes. We asked for his body but nobody could produce it.

“In 2014, my third son, the twin to the one who went missing in 2013, went out with his friends. It was the day a local election was taking place at Oraifite. Suddenly, some SARS men swooped on my shop and arrested many people. He was not at the shop at the time but  when he came back, he felt unwell and went to the church because that day was a special vigil prayer for our members.

“At about 2.am, some policemen swooped on our compound, with some entering through the roof in search of my remaining son. They removed a motorcycle my son had bought for his wife and took his identity card and asked us to tell him to come to meet them at Awkuzu SARS.

“But on returning home from the vigil, out of fear, he left the state for Lagos, having lost his two brothers. The police still trailed him to Lagos and arrested him in January 2015. We have been going to SARS since then and there has not been any trace of him.

“As you see me, I am childless, despite the fact that God gave me three boys. They did not die as a result of sickness or  found to have committed any offence. They were eliminated because someone who plays God in our community decided that my family should not have male children.

“I did not do anything and my children did not commit any offence. Our problem was that my late husband was in charge of the vigilante group in the community and was opposed to some devilish activities being perpetrated in Oraifite.”