Police Allege Students On Dreadlock As Drug Dealers

Prior before the end of the second semester in Imo State university, an incident occurred at Works Layout, Owerri, where officers of Imo police arrested three students of the institution who were walking along the road in dreadlocked hair style accusing them of looking like Indian hemp smokers.

This urgly scenero is coming following the inauguration of a task force committee on indian herm smoking by the state governnor, Rochas Okorocha in the state.

When our reporter who was present at the scene pressed to know more, the police men said there is a law by the Imo State House of Assembly that anybody with dreadlocks should be arrested. They probably did not know that they were talking to a campus journalist.

They insisted on taking the three students to the police station except they were willing to pay N50,000 each for their release or be taken to the police station, from where they will be charged to court for prosecution. Unfortunately, the students could not afford the money and were driven away in a hilux van.

Further investigation by our colleagues in the field of journalism we hinted on the issue who went further to contact the speaker, Imo state house of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Acho Ihim revealed that the speaker was not aware of such law, maintaining that dreadlock is a style of fashion that is optional to individuals and does not contravene any law.

Similarly, Chairman of the Task Force Committee on indian hemp smoking, Barr. Ijeoma Igboanusi, said there is no such law and wondered why anyone should be creating bad image for the government. She also narrated how men of the Special Armed Robbery Squad (SARS), regularly visit Orlu from Oru West, where they arrest people and extort huge sums of money from them.

She referred to a case where they extorted N300,000 from a suspect and N400,000 from another suspect. She disclosed that her committee has not arrested anybody since they were inaugurated because they have been strictly on sensitization.