How police extorted N150k from TheCable deputy editor, detained his underage children in Anambra

Onyebuchi Isiwekpeni, SP leading team of police officers on the operation

Personnel of the Otolo Nnewi police command in Anambra state arrested and detained Jude Egbas, deputy editor of the TheCable, before releasing him after N150, 000 had been prised off him.

Egbas’ wife, Ogechukwu Chukwujekwu, and his kids, Munachukwu and Adela, aged 13 and three respectively, were detained alongside him for 10 hours until the bail amount was deposited.

According to the journalist, the incident occurred on Sunday, December 28, 2025, in Ndiakwu community, Otolo Nnewi.

FAMILY FEUD

In the early hours of the day, Egbas who had briefly travelled to Nnewi to spend Christmas with his wife and in-laws, recalled being woken up by a loud argument emanating from the other wing of the building nestled in the Ndiakwu woods.

“Apparently, my wife and her uncle, Collins Okechukwu Anya, who was visiting from the United States, and who had adopted her as his daughter, were having a disagreement,” Egbas said.

“Anya had attacked and slapped her twice as tempers rose. The altercation had stemmed from an alternative power supply arrangement the night before, as the building is not yet connected to the power grid.

“The other wing of the building where the altercation was unfolding had most of my in-laws. I could hear my mother in-law and sister in-laws trying to douse the tension and settle the fight as I hurriedly put on some clothes to dash to the scene.

“As I arrived in the room, there was noise from every corner. The din could have been heard from miles away. Anya was still baying for blood as he was being restrained from hitting my wife — his daughter — again.

“In the course of their scuffle, my wife had damaged the television in self-defence. This further exacerbated a disagreement that should have been settled amicably between members of the same family.”

Ogechukwu told TheCable that Anya has a history of hitting and beating her up.

“He did it at Christmas of 2023/2024, when he ganged up with his brother to physically assault me, pulling my hair in the process,” Ogechukwu said.

On this occasion, Egbas narrated that Anya then put a call across to the head of a local security outfit, Agunechemba, who stormed the house guns-a-blazing.

“Attempts to make the vigilantes understand that this was nothing more than a family fight that should be settled amicably failed,” Egbas said.

“Before long, the vigilantes were beating up everyone in the building. Helen, my wife’s younger sister, was dished a hot slap and her clothes were ripped apart. She was basically stripped naked.

“I had confronted the assailant to say it was wrong to be laying a hand on a woman or treating a lady in that manner. But I was roughened up too for my troubles and insulted by the gun-wielding team. I basically had a gun pointed to my head at this point.

“With our Christmas vacation now a hot mess, my wife asked that we leave for her dad’s compound in Umuenem. As we packed our belongings, the police team from the Otolo Nnewi post arrived.

Egbas recalled that the police team had been instructed to arrest him and his family.

The squad was led by Onyebuchi Isiwekpeni, a superintendent.

“I was dragged by the waist like a common criminal and bundled into the police van parked outside,” Egbas said.

“I watched helplessly as police officers beat up my wife, leaving marks on her body.

“My wife and her sister, my children, were also thrown into the back of the van. Then our phones were seized. What breaks me to this day was my three-year-old crying in my arms as we were driven to the police station.

“Once at the station, I still thought this whole thing could be settled as nothing more than a family feud. As I tried to speak, first identifying myself as a journalist and pulling out my identification, Isiwekpeni descended on me.

“‘Idiot. Bastard. If you are a journalist, so what? Silicon, compound fool!!’ the officer bellowed after removing my face cap and glasses. ‘I read journalism too and I don’t use it because it’s such a useless profession’.

“My wife was also insulted and called all sorts of names, including being slut-shamed by this officer.

“There we sat, behind the counter — all six of us (including our caregiver) for 10 hours — without access to our phones, without food and without water. With my children in my arms crying while the ordeal lasted.”

Egbas said around 5pm, he was summoned under a tree where Isiwekpeni had been holding court. He was then told that to set himself and family free, he had to pay up.

“First, I was told to pay N220,000. We pleaded for more than an hour. Thereafter, we were asked to pay N150,000. We were all drained at this point and night was fast approaching. It was a Sunday and I had to report to work the next day. The police made it clear that we were all going to spend the night in the cell if I didn’t pay up,” the journalist narrated.

“With our phones still confiscated, Helen, my wife’s sister who had been locked up with us, begged for hers to facilitate the transaction.

“Helen’s aunt and Anya’s sister, who also resides in the United States, then loaned us the money for our bail.

“I was then permitted by Isiwekpeni to leave the station to the nearest cash withdrawal point to get the money as the police do not do transfers.

“When I returned, with the N150,000 concealed in a black polythene bag, Isiwekpeni still coerced me and my wife to write statements and an undertaking, and still made me sit as he counted the money to make sure it was complete to the last kobo, before we were let go.”

‘DO THE STORY, SIR’

When TheCable reached out to Tochukwu Ikenga, spokesperson of the Anambra state police command, on Egbas’ ordeal and the conduct of his men on the day, he was dismissive.

“What do you want me to do? Please write a report and send it to us for action. Or you can do the story and then we would react,” Ikenga said.

TheCable also spoke to Benjamin Hundeyin, Nigeria Police Force (NPF) spokesperson, on the conduct of officers of the Otolo Nnewi division and how Egbas was made to part with N150,000 as bail on a Sunday.

Hundeyin suggested that we speak with the Anambra police command spokesperson, forwarding Ikenga’s number. When we shared Ikenga’s response with him, Hundeyin responded with: “Do the story, sir.”

While working on this story, TheCable stumbled on a 2024 video shared by a Facebook user, in which the same officer Isiwekpeni seemingly attempted to seize a car key from a motorist at a checkpoint, after brusquely demanding for the driver’s “vehicle particulars”. Thecable