Chijioke Iloanya

2012

Awkuzu, Anambra State.

Chijioke was one of the many attendees of a naming ceremony arrested in November 2012. He was not the only one to never make it out alive. His father, Emmanuel Iloanya, received a phone call informing him that his son had been arrested. Upon getting to the police station, he learned that his son was not there anymore, he had been taken away by SARS. With his wife, he went to the infamous Awkuzu SARS headquarters where he was told, once again, that his son was not there. It was a lie, Chijioke was there. His parents saw him one last time, handcuffed, at Awkuzu, but officers forced them to leave. 

It was only after many advocacy efforts that they learned of their son’s death. The responsible officer, James Nwafor, boldly confessed to his father Emmanuel Iloanya, “Go, I have wasted your son.” Despite giving up to 1.5M to SARS, by the intermediary of one Emmanuel Udechukwu, he was never able to see or retrieve his son’s corpse. The Awkuzu SARS and his former commander James Nwafor have long been at the center of many rumours, complaints and investigations related to torture and extrajudicial killings. 

Chijioke’s sister recalls that he was a people’s person, very outgoing, generous and popular in their area: “he could bring back 10 people home even if he knew there was no food in the house, that’s the kind of person he was.” The family now only wants justice and to know what really happened to Chijioke. Two other families of the men arrested at the same naming ceremony are also in the same limbo, without any news of their loved ones. .

Killer officers: James Nwafor