A human rights lawyer, Chetam Nwala, has accused the Rivers State Police Command of shielding suspects and sabotaging justice in the criminal case surrounding the death of a two-year-old girl at the Eligbolo campus of Wisdom Gate School in Port Harcourt.

The allegation came on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, when the matter came up before Justice Monina Danagogo of the Rivers State High Court and neither the Police prosecution team nor any representative of the school appeared in court.

Justice Danagogo subsequently adjourned the case to Tuesday, May 12, 2026.

Speaking outside the courthouse, activist and lawyer Nwala said the police’s absence was not only negligent but deeply suspicious.

“We got wind that the matter was coming up in court today and we immediately rushed down to court hoping that the police who filed the matter would be in court with people from Wisdom Gate School.

“Unfortunately, when we got to court, we discovered that the police who filed the matter, along with the Wisdom Gate people, were not in court,” he said.

Nwala questioned the sincerity of the Police’s commitment to the case, alleging a pattern of deliberate obstruction.

According to him: “This raises further questions as to the interest of the Nigerian Police in this matter and how they have continued to try to scuttle justice.

 “We are saddened by this particular action because we expected more from these Police officers, as they had given us some level of assurances and we relied on those assurances.”

The lawyer further alleged that the suspects’ social standing appeared to be influencing the conduct of the investigation.

“You cannot expect that parents will lose their child and, when justice is supposed to take place, because these people are highly placed in society, they should be allowed to go scot-free for their own negligence while the Police protect them,” Nwala said.

Despite the setback, Nwala vowed that all those responsible would be held accountable.

“Justice must be served in this matter, and that is what the family wants. Those whose actions led to the death of late Wynne Akekue should be brought to book. The police should stop shielding these people — they shielded them from Rumuokoro down to the State CID. What is the police afraid of?”

The late Wynne Akekue died in March 2026 at the age of two after a shelf allegedly fell on her and crushed her skull while she was sleeping at the Eligbolo campus of Wisdom Gate School.

Her parents have alleged a cover-up involving the school and police authorities. Human rights groups have since rallied around the family, insisting that justice must be served and that such incidents must not be allowed to recur.