Missing Person: Family alleges investigative failure, interference, questions IRT’s handling of case
The family of Peace Chineyenwa Eugene – a 33-year old young woman and a Chartered Accountant working with Los Angeles Event Centre and Mall Abuja, until she went to work on the 13th day of March 2026 and did not return home and has not been found to date. The family hereby raises alarm over her sudden disappearance and decries the nonchalant attitude, investigative sabotage and external influences that have interfered with the investigation of the case.
They are indicting the Nigerian Police Force, particularly the Investigative Response Team (IRT) officers, Guzape, consisting CSP Paul Moses (the Team Lead), Inspector Sam Odoh (the IPO) and Emmanuel Akor, FCT Abuja, for actively jeopardizing the investigative process, thus leaving the missing person yet to be found after about five (5) months of her sudden disappearance.
According to a statement made by the family, signed by Eng. Gloria Ijioma, the poor handling of the case by the IRT raises very fundamental questions on the integrity, diligence and professionalism of the police since the matter was reported to them on the 21st of March 2026. The family further states that despite huge financial commitments made by the family and other interested persons to the police to facilitate the case, as well as efforts made by the family such as tracking, the police have neglected or failed to pursue critical leads. There have been several incidents of deliberate delays on the part of the police, including the disappearance of one of the suspects from police custody, namely Chimaobi; poor handling of evidence; selective investigation of other indicted persons; and unexplained snitching and information flow, amongst others. These conducts have been of grave concern to the family, resulting in their loss of confidence in the team handling the case.
Information proceeding from the family is to the effect that Miss Peace had 3 phones and upon conducting a tracking exercise, one of the phones was found in the possession of one Mr Nurudeen Musa Usman, who, according to his narration, had purchased the phone from a phone vendor/repairer named Toochukwu Iloani, which led to the police arresting Toochukwu, consequent upon which Mr. Nurudeen was granted administrative bail.
Upon questioning, the second phone belonging to the missing person was discovered in the possession of Toochukwu. Toochukwu on his part, pointed fingers at one Ifeanyi Okere. He claimed that Ifeanyi Okere had brought the phones to his shop for him to buy; he provided proof of the transaction between himself and Ifeanyi Okere. He further stated that Ifeanyi Okere had brought other phones to him in the past.
The recovery of the phones and arrest of Toochukwu on the 28th day of March 2026 sparked hope in the hearts of Peace Eugene’s family, as they saw this as a major breakthrough that would finally lead to finding their sister; sadly, the investigating team have failed to go past Toochukwu to finding the missing person. No reasonable move has been made by the IRT to trace the chain of events, neither were the phones found unlocked in order to trace Peace’s conversation in order to find clues to her whereabouts.
The family laments bitterly that after Mr. Nurudeen was granted administrative bail, he organised Tochukwu’s friends and went in search of Chimaobi Hector Okere (also known as Umogota) – who happens to be Ifeanyi Okere’s cousin and whom Tochukwu named as the person who had introduced Ifeanyi Okere to him, consequent upon which Chimaobi was arrested and taken to Anagada police outpost and the IRT were duly informed of the arrest. Shockingly, a few hours after communicating with the IRT, it was discovered that Chimaobi was no longer in police custody. The police at Anagada claimed that Chimaobi escaped from their custody and left his phone – a very ridiculous and lame assertion. It was later discovered that Ifeanyi’s prospective mother-in-law was the very person who had gone to the Anagada police station to secure Chimaobi’s release. Till date, the police are yet to explain what happened to the phone Chimaobi left behind after his “purported escape” from police custody, and Ifeanyi Okere, the prime suspect, has remained at large while his cousin Chimaobi has not been produced for questioning either.
The family is therefore seeking the thorough investigation of Ifeanyi’s fiancé, Miss Chinenye Uchenna, who reportedly opened an OPAY Account for him while the investigation was ongoing and Ifeanyi Okere is still at large. To them, the police are supposed to investigate the bank account that had been opened for a man who is at large. This same fiancé had earlier claimed that Ifeanyi had made no contact with her since his fleeing; she claimed also that Ifeanyi does not know how to do bank transfers. Meanwhile, Toochukwu clearly has evidence of the purchase of the phone wherein Ifeanyi transferred money to him. Same fiancé claimed she does not know Ifeanyi beyond Abuja, yet she had a wedding date set with the same Ifeanyi. She was also trying to renew international passport for Ifeanyi during the pendency of the case before she was intercepted and the old passport ceased.
Peace Eugene’s family are asking why the police investigation appears to be revolving only around Toochukwu instead of aggressively pursuing the person Tochukwu has identified as the person who brought the phones to him? They strongly believe that Tochukwu is a link and therefore should not become the end of the investigation.
Earlier in the course of the investigation, the family of Tochukwu asked for Administrative Bail to enable the suspect help in the investigation, a request the victim’s family did not oppose because Tochukwu had been in police custody for five months without reasonable progress being made on the case by the police. However, the investigating police team instead channelled all energy and efforts into issues surrounding the Administrative Bail for him, paying little or no attention to the substantive case of the missing person. “Why is the substantive case not progressing?” they asked. Toochukwu was later granted bail after the file was recalled by the FID, a move the family is thankful to the FID for.
The family also calls for the investigation of Mr. Eze Chizoba, Chairman of NURTW, Life Camp, who is Ifeanyi Okere’s Union Chairman, over his comments during investigation of the case. The NURTW boss was quoted to have said concerning Tochukwu thus: “If to say you no mention Ifeanyi name, Ifeanyi for don make arrangement for your release.” This raises an extraordinary question: Why would a person who is not the suspect’s lawyer or investigating officer be talking about arrangements for his release? And even more importantly: why was no apparent action taken after such a statement was made in the presence of an investigating police officer? Is Eze Chizoba still in communication with Ifeanyi Okere, whom police cannot reach? What is his relationship with Ifeanyi beyond Union Chairman? Why were the police giving him access to the suspect in custody?
Among other questions begging for answers is the role of one Mr. Michael Friday in the matter. The family questions Michael Friday’s interest and involvement in the case, when he is neither acting on behalf of Peace Eugene’s family, nor Tochukwu’s and not even Ifeanyi’s, unless perhaps there is more to his involvement with Ifeanyi than meets the eye. According to the family, Michael facilitated the transfer of the case from the Scorpion Technical Squad to the IRT, where the case was first reported. After the transfer, he appeared to withdraw from the matter. However, the family has observed his repeated re-appearance with unusual agitation whenever significant progress occurred; he also appears to have prior knowledge of developments before they are even officially communicated to the nominal complainant – Peace Eugene’s family. The family says these occurrences are very worrisome and also raise serious questions about his source of information and his unexplained involvement in the investigation.
The family also raises serious concerns about the conduct of CSP Paul Moses (Team Lead), Inspectors Sam Odoh (IPO) and Emmanuel Akor, for which they had earlier sought the intervention of the IRT Commander and 2IC, yet the concerns persisted. The family therefore also questions the role of the IRT Commander and 2IC in supervising this investigation.
Of particular concern are alleged remarks by CSP Paul Moses describing Peace as a “loose girl” who was allegedly sleeping with a married man, and a remark attributed to Inspector Sam Odoh questioning why he should “bother himself with looking for a dead girl.” These statements raise serious questions: What does the IPO know about Peace’s sudden disappearance and current state of being? From whom was he receiving such information? And why was a missing person being presumed dead by the Police Investigation officer handling the case? Could this explain the nonchalant attitude of the investigative team on the case? Why is Peace still missing?
The family hereby expresses their unreserved gratitude to the IGP for granting their request for a change of investigative team, consequent upon which the file has been taken over from the IRT team; a development that has ignited fresh hope for the family and further appeals to the IGP to intervene in the matter and facilitate the return of Miss Peace Eugene back to her family.
The family craves the indulgence of the IGP to investigate the previous team at IRT for their gross misconduct in the investigation. They are asking the Nigeria Police Force to investigate its own officers at the IRT where credible complaints have been raised, so as to restore credibility to the Unit and the force generally.
We are asking that the complete chain of evidence be secured. We are asking that every person connected to the recovered phone be traced. We are asking that the circumstances surrounding the missing person be investigated. We are asking that the communications between investigators and persons outside the investigative chain be examined. We are asking that the financial transactions connected to the investigation be examined. We are asking that every lead to Ifeanyi Okere be pursued above everything else we are asking for the safe return of Peace Eugene.
