Video: Policemen attacked us in my shop, took my son – Imo woman cries over attack on Ogboshishi Market in Owerri

A distraught woman ran to Imo-based radio station, Osisa FM to raise the alarm and narrate how police officers attacked the popular Ogboshishi market in Aba road, Owerri on Friday evening and took her son and others away.

The woman who revealed that since her husband died in 2016, it was her 24 years old son, Akachukwu Nwadike who has been helping her in the shop and assisting her food business.

While speaking with, On Air Personality Chinonso Ubah, aka Nonso Nkwa, on Friday evening, she also revealed that the officers left a man who revealed he was from Yoruba and told others from Igbo.

She narrated: “Around 5:30pm yesterday, I was at my shop where I sell food. Suddenly, we saw people running.

“And my son who helps in the shop was around. He is the only one that helps me out in my business. I had told him to go and pound palm fruits for me for stew. It was when he was pounding the palm fruits that we all heard the noise of running. So, he came outside to see what was happening and why people were running. I told him not to go out.

“It was then that we saw police officers approaching us. They came in seven or eight vehicles, including hilux.

“So, I told my son to go in and continue what he was pounding inside, that whatever or whoever the police officers came for, doesn’t concern us. Then my son went in and continued what he was doing.

“It was while my son was inside pounding that two young men came in to eat in our shop. When I went in to get their food for them, police officers came into my shop.

“The policemen started shouting on us to lie down flat on the floor. So, we all did so and laid on the floor. Then they started beating one of the customers that came to eat. One policeman started saying to the customer, ‘You are among! You are among!’

“The customer replied, ‘Sir, I’m not among. I’m not among.’ Immediately they took off his clothes and started using dagger to brutalize all over his body. The other man in my shop who was from Yoruba started saying, ‘I am Omo Yoruba. I am Omo Yoruba.’

Narrating further, the woman said, the one from Yoruba was her neighbour. And they were all on the ground faced down, while the young man kept shouting, ‘I am Omo Yoruba. I am Omo Yoruba.’ The policemen then left the man to go. She added, “By the time I turned around, they then took my son who was inside the kitchen. Then I told them ‘This is my son’. But one started yelling at me, saying, ‘Are you talking to me?’ then he slapped me and told me to shut up, that if I talk again that they will shoot me. So, I kept quiet and they took my son away. I don’t know where they took my son to. That is why I came to Osisa FM.

“Let the whole world hear my voice. My son didn’t do anything. Since 2016 that my husband died, it has been only my son that has been helping me. He is all I have. Wherever they took him to, they should bring my son back to me this night. My son’s name is Akachukwu Nwadike. He is 24 years old”

She also added that the police officers also took her customer from Igbo after beating him mercilessly and leaving his blood over her shop.

Her neighbour corroborated her story and revealed how she arrived at the market from a burial programme only to find police officers attacking the market, shooting and destroying things, including using shovels to destroy cars parked at the market.

The young man who also spoke about the incident warned Igbos to be careful. He said that what the women said is how it happened. He added that his anger is that the police officers were not even shooting into the air, but consciously aiming at people and shooting sporadically.

Watch the full video below.