Residents of Abuja’s Oduah Estate say they are living in fear and uncertainty due to what they describe as a campaign of terror, intimidation, and death threats orchestrated by a serving police officer, DSP Jeffery Ugochukwu, whose current posting within the Nigeria Police Force is unknown.
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 allegedly used 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 of which were purportedly captured on film, could result in preventable deaths, the tenants have elevated their complaints to the Police Service Commission (PSC), requesting immediate disciplinary action to prevent what they predict will be a tragedy.
In an August 13, 2025 petition, the Citizens Rights and Empowerment Advocacy Initiative (CREMA Initiative) identified 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 organization warned that the situation was quickly developing and “could lead to tragedy if immediate action is not taken.”
This followed a joint complaint filed by renters with the Force Provost Department in June 2025, alleging criminal intimidation, physical assault, property destruction, and the brandishing of a service gun in an attempt to shoot inhabitants.
In one of the petitions, residents said that the harassment escalated when the officer began spraying a tear-gas-like chemical through the ceiling, causing choking, breathing difficulties, and eye irritation, prompting entire families, including children, to exit their apartments gasping for air.
According to CREMA’s appeal, the act “is currently endangering the lives of a pregnant woman, children, breastfeeding babies, and other vulnerable occupants.”
Tenants reportedly accused the officer of playing extremely loud music late at night, robbing neighbours of sleep and exacerbating health problems such as hypertension. After receiving multiple threats, one family apparently deserted the estate entirely.
The petitions describe deliberate acts of destruction 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, leaving nine other flats in darkness. He was also accused of repeatedly harming estate water lines and, on September 13, 2025, spilling palm oil across a common lobby, causing damage to a neighbor’s window net.
The continuous threats of murderous violence are particularly disturbing. The “Concerned Tenants” filed a petition on September 29, 2025, alleging that the officer threatened to use his rifle to shoot on them.
The next day, he reportedly emerged with a jackknife, threatening to kill any tenant who knocked on his door, an occurrence that was allegedly captured on film.
Another petition said he previously 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 claimed that he had pointed a firearm at the estate caretaker, physically assaulted him, and refused to pay motorbike operators for services done on the estate.
Despite numerous oral and written complaints, homeowners claim that the police have taken no effective action.
Mr. Ibe Uzoma, the estate caretaker, stated that allegations were made to the Karu Area Command, which visited the location but did not take any further action until tenants submitted a formal appeal on September 29, 2025.
On September 13, officers from the Nyanya Police Division’s Surveillance Unit reportedly sought to question the DSP, but “he bluntly refused to open his door each time.” Tenants now feel that the matter has spiraled out of control of divisional leadership.
Frustrated by the lack of action, the tenants hired the Trio Jurist Law Firm, which filed a petition with the Chairman of the Police Service Commission.
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 cautioned that continuing to defend the officer may “escalate into a full breach of peace should our clients resort to self-help.”
Residents claimed that DSP Ugochukwu was seen armed with a jackknife, knocking on several doors in an apparent attempt to identify 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 unknown.
Later that evening, witnesses reported seeing him again, banging on the door of another tenant, whose wife had just gone to bed, reportedly in search of the journalist. He allegedly fled with the electricity meter supplying two flats.
Comrade Ezema, who also works as Director of Operations at CREMA Initiative, stated in a statement on Sunday that he is still 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 alone and 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 no action was taken until his mysterious death. We don’t need to wait for tragedy before action is taken. No one’s life should be endangered because an officer claims to have a DIG as his godfather.”
He further appealed to the alleged senior officer,“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 to the Inspector-General Police reached the Police Complaint Response Unit (CRU) at Force Headquarters, after two follow-up visits by the tenants and landlord, officials “blatantly told the landlord and some tenants that the policeman cannot be traced and there is nothing they can do.”
When asked, he lamented: “If he’s an unknown police officer, isn’t that the main reason to act — if it’s an act of impersonation? Still, they said nothing and did nothing till today.”
On Saturday am, October 18, 2025, Comrade Ezema submitted an urgent message to the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), ACP Benjamin Hundeyin, with a duplicate sent to the FCT PPRO, SP Josephine Adeh.
“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 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.”
Residents said they now live in continual fear, sleeping in shifts and keeping an eye on their families at night.
While waiting for a formal answer from the PSC, they have begun appealing to other security agencies for assistance, complaining 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 the complaint, the journalist stated that when a video of the police officer threatening and equipped with a jackknife was supplied to her, the PPRO FCT Command answered, “Noted, I have even started acting on it too.”
The complainants have been invited by the FCT Command’s Police Complaints Response Unit and will be present at 10 a.m. on Monday.
