The Urum community in Anambra State has renewed pressure on the Nigeria Police Force to release Anigbankpu Johnpaul Jideofor, a father of four who remains in detention in Abuja despite claims that investigations found no link between him and the dispute that led to his arrest.
The petition has deepened public unease over what the community says is an uneven and unexplained handling of two detainees from the same matter.
The case has also exposed a naming discrepancy at the top of the police hierarchy. The community’s appeal, as published by SaharaReporters, was addressed to “Tunji Dusi”, but the Nigeria Police Force’s official website currently lists the Inspector-General of Police as Olatunji Rilwan Disu, while the Police Service Commission says it is chaired by DIG Hashimu Salihu Argungu (rtd).
That matters, because the petition is not only a cry for mercy; it is also a demand that the correct authorities answer for the detention decision being challenged.
According to the community and relatives who spoke to SaharaReporters, Jideofor was arrested on 19 June 2026 but was not implicated during investigations.
They allege that he has nevertheless remained in detention in Abuja, far from his family, while another detainee, Chibueze Onuorah, was transferred from Abuja to the Amawbia Custodial Centre in Anambra State without the knowledge of his family or lawyer.
That transfer, the community says, has only sharpened the question of why one man was moved while the father of four was left behind.
For the Urum community, the human cost is now the central issue. They say Jideofor’s wife has been left to care for their four young children alone, while also carrying the emotional and financial burden of his absence.
The community described the situation as “heartbreaking and difficult to understand”, and argued that if the ongoing detention has no lawful foundation, the police should release him immediately rather than allow the matter to drag on.
The community is also asking for a wider probe, not just a release order. It has called on the Inspector-General of Police, the Police Service Commission, the National Human Rights Commission and civil society groups to independently review the case and determine whether due process was followed.
In the community’s view, the handling of Jideofor and Onuorah must be examined side by side to establish whether the differing treatment was lawful, arbitrary or the product of poor police judgment.
One allegation that will likely draw further attention is the claim that the Commissioner of Police, Homicide, Olubunmi Ogedengbe, had expressed confidence that complaints against him would amount to little more than a possible transfer.
That allegation remains untested publicly, and the officer has not responded on the record. Still, in a country where public confidence in policing is repeatedly shaken by detention controversies, silence from the authorities tends to deepen suspicion rather than calm it.
The legal and reputational stakes are obvious. Detention without a clear and publicly defensible basis is precisely the kind of allegation that erodes trust in law enforcement, especially when families say a suspect has already been cleared by investigation yet remains locked away.
In this case, the optics are particularly damaging because the alleged disparity between two detainees suggests that discretion, rather than evidence, may be driving the outcome. That is the question the police must answer if they want to avoid the impression of selective justice.
As of filing time, the Nigeria Police Force had not publicly responded to the community’s allegations or the renewed demand for an independent investigation. Until that happens, Jideofor’s detention will continue to hang over the police as a test of transparency, restraint and respect for due process.
For his wife and four children, it is more immediate and more painful: another day, another night, and still no father at home.
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