Man arrested for allegedly chaining sister for 16 months in Abuja

By Margaret Abah

A man, Chinedu Aniekuoku, has been arrested by the Federal Capital Territory Police Command for allegedly keeping his 36-year-old sister, Grace Aniekuoku, in chains inside a locked room for more than one year and four months.

The FCT Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Sanusi, disclosed the incident while briefing journalists in Abuja on Monday, describing it as one of the most disturbing and dehumanising cases encountered by the command.

According to Sanusi, the police received a distress call on June 12, 2026, indicating that a woman, Grace Aniekuoku, 36, was being held in chains and locked inside a room by her brother, Chinedu Aniekuoku.

The suspect, Chinedu Aniekuoku. Photo: FCT Police Command

“Upon receipt of the report, I immediately dispatched a team of detectives from Katampe Division to the scene,” the commissioner said.

He revealed that upon arrival, the suspect refused the police entry into his residence, prompting officers to invoke police powers of ingress and liberation.

“I ordered that they should invoke the police powers of ingress and liberation to gain access into the premises. What that power gives the police is this: if you want to go into a place for a lawful duty and you are restricted, you can break in and do your duty,” Sanusi explained.

Upon gaining access to the premises, officers found the victim in what the commissioner described as a highly dehumanising condition.

“The victim was seen in a highly dehumanising condition, where she had stayed for this long in her own faeces and excreta. She eats there, defecates there — nobody cleans it, nobody cares about her welfare. Her hair was so grown, like a forest. She became so emaciated that a camera stand is thicker than her neck,” he said.

Sanusi said the victim was immediately rushed to a hospital, where she is currently receiving treatment.

“We just pray that she survives to tell us the story,” the commissioner said.

Investigations revealed that the suspect had allegedly taken away the victim’s son to an unknown location about two years earlier and subsequently confined his sister to prevent her from raising questions about the child’s whereabouts.

“The suspect had forcefully taken away the victim’s son to an unknown location about two years ago and subsequently kept his sister in confinement to prevent her from raising any questions regarding the whereabouts of the child, who may have been used for sacrifice,” Sanusi said.

He added that efforts were ongoing to trace and rescue the missing child, while the suspect remains in custody pending the conclusion of investigations.

“The suspect will be charged to court upon conclusion of the investigation,” the commissioner added.