Stakeholders and residents of Akwa Village, Ifitedunu Town, Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State, have petitioned the Police Service Commission (PSC) over what they described as an illegal police invasion and abuse of power that occurred in the community on December 12, 2025.
In a petition addressed to the Chairman of the Police Service Commission in Abuja, the community alleged that heavily armed men dressed in black, without identifiable police uniforms or insignia, stormed Akwa Village at about 6:30 p.m., causing widespread panic.
According to the petition, live ammunition was fired during the operation, with two persons reportedly hit by bullets while residents were gathered for a birthday celebration. The incident, they said, plunged the community into fear and confusion.
The petitioners stated that it was only after the operatives had left the village that inquiries revealed the team allegedly came from the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) Annex, Lagos. One of the officers, identified as Inspector Tope, was said to have admitted during questioning by a superior officer that the matter in question related to a land dispute.
The community maintained that the alleged police action violated standing directives of the Inspector-General of Police, which prohibit police intervention in civil land disputes.
According to the petition, the operatives claimed they were attempting to arrest the Executive Chairman of Akwa Village, Mr. Arinze Azodo, over allegations connected to the Agu Akwa farmland. The petitioners, however, stressed that the dispute is purely civil and already before the High Court of Anambra State, Neni Division, under Suit Nos. NN/79/2025 and NN/68/2025, and Supreme Court suit No SC/27/2002 judgment about the land.
They argued that the police operation amounted to a breach of due process, the rule of law, and the doctrine of sub judice, noting that the same dispute had previously been reported to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Enugu, and later to FCID Lagos, allegedly as a strategy to intimidate community leaders through arrest and detention.
In their demands, the people of Akwa Village called on the Inspector-General of Police, the Police Service Commission, and the Deputy Inspector-General in charge of FCID Annex, Lagos, to immediately investigate the incident, identify and discipline all officers involved, halt the deployment of armed police officers in land disputes, and guarantee the safety of residents who are now living in fear.
“The police must not be used as instruments of intimidation in civil matters. Justice, professionalism, and respect for the rule of law must prevail,” the petition stated.
The petition was signed by Mr. Peter Ekene Ilouno on behalf of the community.
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