The family of 26-year-old bricklayer, Ndudi Valentine Mmadudilim, from Ozubulu in Ekwusigo Local Council of Anambra State, has raised concerns over his alleged unlawful arrest, prolonged detention and disappearance, two years after he was reportedly taken into police custody without trial.
The family, from the Mmadudilim kindred in Ozubulu, accused security operatives and elements within the Nigeria Police Force of withholding information about his whereabouts, insisting that authorities must produce him “dead or alive”.
Speaking for the family, Amaka Usubor, a 32-year-old nurse practitioner and elder sister to the detainee, said they had lived in anguish since November 2023, when her brother was arrested.
“We have been in pain and have lost all happiness for the past two years since the unlawful arrest and detention of our brother, Ndudi Valentine Mmadudilim,” she said.
Usubor said her brother was initially apprehended in 2023 by officials of the Anambra Vigilante Service, allegedly led by Jude Ononuju, identified as chairman of the Ozubulu branch of the group.
She said he was detained for three days at a vigilante facility before being transferred to Ugwu-Olie Police Station and later arraigned before Chief Magistrate’s Court GD2 in Ozubulu.
Mmadudilim was reportedly charged with cultism and unlawful possession of a locally made double-barrel pistol in suit number MOZ/7C/2024, prosecuted by Inspector Ikemefuna Nnamani.
The family said a Certified True Copy of the court proceedings showed that the presiding magistrate, O.I. Nworah, granted bail after finding that the alleged confessional statement presented by police was unsigned and unverified.
Usubor also said the vigilante leader did not testify that Mmadudilim was found with any firearm, contrary to earlier police claims.
The court reportedly granted bail on August 15, 2024, in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties under Section 131(1) of the Anambra State Administration of Criminal Justice Law, 2022, and ordered that the case file be transmitted to the office of the Attorney-General.
Usubor, however, alleged that in April 2024, while complying with court processes, her brother was rearrested by operatives of the police Rapid Response Squad at the court premises.
She said he was taken back to Ugwu-Olie Police Station and later transferred to the Rapid Response Squad facility in Ukwulu, where he has remained in detention without being charged before any court.
She identified an officer, Ndukwe, as the Investigating Police Officer assigned to the case, alleging that he initially denied that her brother was in custody.
According to her, the Divisional Police Officer at Ugwu-Olie later confirmed that Mmadudilim was being held at the Rapid Response Squad facility and advised the family to find out why he had not been charged.
She said subsequent visits to the facility yielded no access, accusing the officer of refusing her entry, verbally abusing her, and introducing a fresh allegation linking the detainee to a murder case.
She further alleged that no complainant or relative of any alleged victim was presented, and that the officer showed what she described as an “artificial intelligence-generated photograph” as evidence.
“When I challenged the authenticity of the image, he became aggressive and sent me out,” she said.
Usubor also alleged that the dispute may be linked to a personal disagreement involving a woman, claiming tensions between her brother and Ononuju stemmed from a rivalry over a female companion.
She said attempts to resolve the issue through village elders failed, alleging that Ononuju boasted that Mmadudilim would die in detention because of his police connections.
Ononuju could not be reached for comment at the time of filing this report.
When contacted, the state Commissioner of Police, Orutugu Ikioye, reportedly said he was not in office when the matter began and referred inquiries to the Rapid Response Squad Commander, Orode Chidubem Matthew.
The commander, according to the family, denied that any detainee bearing the name Valentine was in police custody. He later accompanied journalists and Usubor to Awka to meet a Deputy Commissioner of Police, but after a private meeting lasting about 30 minutes, returned to say the officer would not speak to journalists.
As of press time, the whereabouts of Ndudi Valentine Mmadudilim remain unclear, with no official detention records publicly produced and no fresh charges reported.
The case raises concerns about due process, accountability in law enforcement, and prolonged detention without trial. For the family, the demand remains direct: “Show us our brother — dead or alive.”
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