Egiji, Son Of Ex-Enugu Assembly Deputy Speaker, David Atigwe Identified By Suspect As Gun Supplier To Kidnappers
Egiji Atigwe, son of former Deputy Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon David Atigwe, has been named as the person providing guns to armed robbers and kidnappers.
David is the elder brother of Hon Simon Atigwe, who lost his seat in the House of Representatives to Dennis Agbo of Labour Party last week following a Court of Appeal judgement on the rerun election for Udenu/Igboeze North Federal Constituency.
A suspect, who was arrested for his involvement in robbery and kidnapping activities in Igboeze North local government area and other parts of Nsukka zone, identified as Emzor, mentioned Egiji’s name during interrogation by the security agents.
In a video interrogation and confessional statement made available to SaharaReporters on Wednesday, the suspect reeled out names of his gang members.
In the 4 minute and 7-second video, the suspect is interrogated by operatives of the Enugu State Neighbourhood Watch group in local dialect while on his knees.
In the video, the suspect said they hire their guns, including a double-barrelled gun from Egiji Atigwe, who is now on the run.
The suspect also told the police that Egiji shares the proceeds of crime among gang members.
A policeman is heard asking him how much they collected from one of their victims and he replied, saying, “I don’t know but I was given N35,000 as my share. Egiji is the one who handles the money.”
The suspect, who was tortured with hands handcuffed behind his back named one Star Boy and Cobra as members of the gang.
However, efforts made by SaharaReporters to speak with the Enugu State Police Command for comments were unsuccessful as the Command’s spokesperson DSP Daniel Ndukwe did not answer his calls.
As at the time of filing this report, he had yet to reply to the text message sent to him seeking his comment.
Meanwhile, SaharaReporters gathered that there are ongoing moves by Ejigi’s family to scuttle the case.
“It seems as if the state government has intervened in the matter, as the commissioner for finance, Mr Urama, who is from same area with the Atigwe’s has visited the Enugu- Ezike divisional police to request the police in the area to do a thorough investigation on the matter,” a source told SaharaReporters.