Fear grips Abuja estate as tenants accuse policeman of harassment, death threats. By Abibu Shehu Ibrahim

Fear grips Abuja estate as tenants accuse policeman of harassment, death threats

Residents of Oduah Estate in Abuja say they are living in fear and uncertainty amid what they describe as a campaign of terror, intimidation, and death threats allegedly orchestrated by a serving police officer, DSP Jeffery Ugochukwu, whose current posting within the Nigeria Police Force remains unclear.

According to a series of “Save Our Souls” (SOS) petitions addressed to the Inspector-General of Police, the Force Provost Marshal, and the Karu Area Command, the officer has allegedly leveraged his position to act with impunity, endangering the lives of dozens of families, including children, nursing mothers, and a pregnant woman.

Fearing that the threats, some reportedly captured on video, could lead to avoidable loss of lives, the tenants have escalated their complaints to the Police Service Commission (PSC), seeking urgent disciplinary action to avert what they warn could become a tragedy.

‘A threat to life living above the law’

In a petition dated August 13, 2025, the Citizens Rights and Empowerment Advocacy Initiative (CREMA Initiative) described DSP Ugochukwu as “a threat to the lives of his co-tenants, who consistently constitutes a nuisance and lives above the law simply because he is a police officer.”

The human rights group warned that the situation was deteriorating rapidly and “could lead to tragedy if immediate action is not taken.”

This followed an earlier joint complaint by tenants to the Force Provost Department in June 2025, alleging criminal intimidation, physical assault, destruction of property, and the brandishing of a service pistol in an attempt to shoot residents.

Tear gas allegations and choking nights

In one of the petitions, residents claimed that the harassment worsened when the officer began spraying a tear-gas-like substance through the ceiling, causing choking, breathing difficulties, and eye irritation, forcing entire families, including children, to flee their rooms gasping for air.

CREMA’s petition stated that this act “is currently endangering the lives of a pregnant woman, children, breastfeeding babies, and other vulnerable occupants.”

Tenants also accused the officer of playing extremely loud music late into the night, depriving neighbours of sleep and aggravating health conditions such as hypertension. One family reportedly fled the estate after repeated threats.

Vandalism, sabotage, and dangerous boasts

The petitions detailed deliberate acts of vandalism and sabotage. On June 15 and 17, 2025, after his flat was disconnected by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), DSP Ugochukwu allegedly cut the main electric line, plunging nine other flats into darkness.

He was also accused of destroying estate water pipes on several occasions and, on September 13, 2025, pouring palm oil across a shared lobby and damaging a neighbour’s window net.

More chilling are the repeated threats of lethal violence. In a petition dated September 29, 2025, the Concerned Tenants recounted how the officer allegedly declared:

“You should continue; very soon, I will get my rifle and fire everybody.”

The next day, he reportedly emerged with a jackknife, threatening to kill any tenant who knocked on his door, an incident said to have been captured on video.

Another petition claimed he once boasted that if provoked, he would “use his rifle to fire at the person and then turn it on himself, and the matter would be closed.”

Tenants further alleged that he brandished a pistol at the estate caretaker, physically assaulted him, and refused to pay motorcycle operators for services rendered within the estate.

Police inaction and mounting fear

Despite several oral and written complaints, residents insist that no meaningful action has been taken by the police authorities.

The estate caretaker, Mr. Ibe Uzoma, confirmed that reports were made to the Karu Area Command, which visited the scene but took no further action before tenants filed a formal petition on September 29, 2025.

When officers from the Nyanya Police Division’s Surveillance Unit reportedly attempted to invite the DSP for questioning on September 13, “he bluntly refused to open his door each time.” Tenants now fear that the situation has spiralled beyond the control of divisional leadership.

Frustrated by continued inaction, the tenants engaged the Trio Jurist Law Firm, which has petitioned the Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC).

The firm wrote:

“It is now an obvious fact that the Nigeria Police Force, knowing the state of DSP Ugochukwu, is intentionally protecting one of theirs at the risk of the lives of our clients.”

They warned that the continued protection of the officer could “escalate into a full breach of peace should our clients resort to self-help.”

Journalist targeted amid growing chaos

In the early hours of Thursday, October 16, 2025, residents alleged that DSP Ugochukwu was seen armed with a jackknife, knocking on several doors in an apparent attempt to locate the apartment of Comrade James Ezema, a journalist, National Vice President (Investigation) of the Nigerian Guild of Investigative Journalists (NGIJ), and National President of the Association of Bloggers and Journalists Against Fake News (ABJFN), for reasons yet unknown.

Later that evening, witnesses said he was again seen knocking on the door of another tenant whose wife had just put to bed, allegedly in continued search of the journalist.

He reportedly left with the electricity meter serving two flats.

Comrade Ezema, who also serves as Director of Operations at CREMA Initiative, said in a statement on Sunday that he remains in shock:

“I was dumbfounded because there has been no personal issue with him to warrant his manhunt for me. Nigerians should hold DSP Jeffery Ugochukwu and the Nigeria Police Force responsible if anything happens to me, my loved ones, or any tenant. Right now, I cannot move around freely for fear of my life and safety.”

He added:

“It’s shameful that the Nigeria Police Force has sunk so low that allegations of threats to life are treated with levity.

I don’t want to be another Mohbad, who petitioned the police but got no response until his mysterious death. We shouldn’t wait for tragedy before taking action. No one’s life should be endangered because an officer claims to have a DIG as his godfather.”

He further appealed:

“We are appealing to the DIG whom he claims to be his godfather not to back criminality and lawlessness at the expense of citizens’ lives.”

According to Ezema, when one of the petitions reached the Police Complaint Response Unit (CRU) at Force Headquarters, after two follow-up visits by the tenants and landlord, officials “bluntly told the landlord and some tenants that the policeman cannot be traced and there is nothing they can do.”

He lamented:

> “If he’s an unknown police officer, isn’t that all the more reason to act, in case it’s impersonation? Yet, they said nothing and did nothing to this day.”

Final plea to the Force PRO

In an urgent message on Saturday morning, October 18, 2025, to the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), ACP Benjamin Hundeyin with a copy sent to the FCT PPRO, SP Josephine Adeh, Comrade Ezema wrote:

> “I write to urgently request your immediate intervention over a life-threatening situation in my mini-estate involving an individual who identifies himself as DSP Jeffrey Ugochukwu, said to be deployed to your office.

Despite a series of petitions to the Nyanya Division, Karu Area Command, the Force Provost, and the IGP, no effective action has been taken.

On October 16, 2025, the man came to my door brandishing a jackknife, and later vandalised my electricity meter.

Tenants in this 27-flat mini-estate have endured repeated intimidation, threats to life, and harassment of family members including women and children.

He has openly paraded with a jackknife and boasted of having a DIG as his godfather.

I therefore respectfully but urgently request that your office:

1. Order his immediate removal and suspension from civilian contact pending investigation;

2. Provide urgent protection for me and other endangered tenants; and

3. Conduct an impartial investigation into his conduct and the police’s failure to act.

I make this appeal not to impede legitimate policing but to prevent an avoidable tragedy.”

A cry for justice

Residents say they now live in constant fear, sleeping in shifts and keeping watch over their families at night.

While awaiting a formal response from the PSC, they have begun appealing to other security agencies for protection, lamenting that “it has become clear that police authorities have refused to act.”

“All we are asking for is safety,” one resident said. “We just want to live without fear in our own homes.”

According to a statement by Comrade Ezema, the FCT PPRO, SP Josephine Adeh, responded after receiving a video showing the police officer armed with a jackknife, saying:

“Noted. I have even started acting on it too.”

The complainants have since been invited by the FCT Command’s Police Complaints Response Unit for a follow-up session scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on Monday.