2020

Mushin, Lagos

Abdulaziz Ayuub was running an errand for his boss around Mushin when he was killed. It was October 20, 2020, before the Lagos State government announced an emergency curfew. The #EndSARS protests against police brutality were still ongoing.

The 21-year-old was a mechanic in Mushin. According eye-witnesses, he was passing by when police officers arrived to disperse the crowd of protesters. One of them started shooting in the air. Abdulaziz was hit.

On May 7, 2021, at the Lagos State Judicial Panel on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters, his father tells me that the identity of the killer officer is unknown and the police are yet to release his son’s body. Abdulaziz’s mother died many years ago.

Abdulaziz’s father maintains hope. “I hope there will be justice,” he says. “I believe.”

2020

Agege, Lagos

On October 24, 2020, Pelumi Onifade, a journalist intern at Gboah TV, was one of those assigned to cover the unrest at Oko-Oba area of Agege, Lagos. Police officers attached to the Lagos State Task Force arrived at the scene and started shooting live rounds to disperse the crowd. Pelumi was hit. 

Although still alive, according to his colleague, who went to the officers to identify Pelumi as a journalist and pointed out that he was putting on a press jacket, Pelumi was carried away in the Task Force van. After six days of searching, his family found his body at the mortuary of Lagos State General Hospital in Ikorodu.

On Saturday, June 5, at the Lagos State Judicial Panel on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters, Pelumi’s father and family lawyer were present, waiting for his case to be heard. Although hopeful that justice will be served, Mr Onifade had little expectation that the case would not be postponed, yet again, to a later date. Prior to that day, the lead counsel to the Lagos State Government, Abiodun Owonikoko (SAN) had said that there was an objection regarding hearing the case. “I have no doubt that the panel will listen to us,” said Lekan Egberongbe, Pelumi’s family lawyer. 

2016

On September 19, 2016, Joseph Eidonojie-Ugbeni and his cousin Friday Ojah were at Ogoja Market along LASU-Igando road in Lagos when SARS operatives pursuing a suspected fraudster opened fire in the market. Friday, who narrowly escaped being shot, took to his heels immediately the officers began shooting. Joseph was not as lucky. A bullet hit him in the head and he died on the spot.

SARS officers are known to invent stories to justify killing civilians in cold blood. According to Friday, the officers seized Joseph’s body and drove off with it in the trunk of the suspected fraudster’s car. The story they made up about him came later.

The officers claimed Joseph was shot in self-defence because he was armed. This was untrue. Joseph, a 20-year-old undergraduate of a polytechnic in Edo State, had come to the area to see his cousin. The morning he was shot, they had gone out to get drinks.

Witnesses said Joseph was unarmed and backing the officers when he was shot. He was not even on the officers’ radar that morning. Joseph’s father, Patrick Eidonojie-Ugbeni, said the bullet pierced him through the back of his head; how then could they claim they shot him in self-defence?

Collins Idom, the SARS operative who fired the shot that killed Joseph, was arrested and dismissed in the weeks following the incident. He pleaded guilty when arraigned for murder shortly after.

The last time he spoke about it, a year after the incident. Patrick said justice had not been served to Joseph’s killer yet.

Killer officer: Collins Idom

2020

Stella Ifeoma Abugu had her introduction in September 2020 and was looking forward to her wedding in December. The 28-year-old entrepreneur had moved to Abuja after completing her youth service to take advantage of its better economic opportunities. It was here she met her fiancé, Afam.

Stella’s mother, Mary, describes her as loving and caring. Stella was passionate about schooling and had partially sponsored herself through tertiary school. Mary remembers being excited by the prospect of her daughter’s marriage.

Four days after Stella’s introduction, SARS operatives arrested her at her fiancé’s residence in Lokogoma, Abuja. They had come in search of Afam but carted her away instead. By morning the following day, she was dead.

Her fiancé was not home when she was taken. The last time he saw her alive, she had just finished cooking for him and her friend. Stella’s friend left after eating and he followed suit later. Shortly after leaving, he received a call that SARS officers had arrested Stella. His efforts to find out where she was taken were unsuccessful. The next day, he was informed that SARS had left her body in a morgue.

The police said Stella was likely already dead when they found her in his house, but they did not know this yet. So they took her to the hospital, where she was confirmed dead, possibly from a cocaine overdose. Eyewitness accounts and the autopsy report tell a different story.

Neighbours said Stella was alive and kicking when SARS operatives arrested her. The results of the autopsy also show that Stella was raped and strangled to death.

Despite the publicity Stella’s case received, justice has not been meted out to her killers. Her brother, Alex, says the officers responsible were detained but let go “after a day or two in detention.”

2010

Onitsha, Anambra State

According to Kelechi’s father, Mr. Joseph Ezeonu, his son, Kelechi, 15, was arrested by the Nigerian police in their home in Onitsha where they lived. The arrest, according to the police, was related to an allegation that Kelechi and one Osondu Nwankwo were involved in armed robbery. And the police handed him over to members of the Special Anti Robbery Squad. 

According to Mr. Ezeonu, the day of his son’s arrest in 2010 was the last day he had set his eyes on him. After his son was arrested, Mr. Ezeonu and his family embarked on what became an expedition to all the police facilities in Anambra State. And none of the facilities admitted knowledge of his son’s whereabouts. This was until the Inspector General of Police (IGP) eventually admitted that the police had killed Kelechi. 

According to Mr. Ezeonu, his son was arrested at home in Onitsha. The letter from the IGP of police stated that Kelechi was wounded in a crossfire and later rushed to the hospital and certified dead on 11th August 2010, almost three months after he had been arrested. 

Eventually, they asked for Kelechi’s body and that, too, was nowhere to be found. The police stubbornly refused to release Kelechi’s body to his family. And later they discovered that SARS operatives had dissolved Kelechi’s body in acid. Also the police has failed to mention anything about the exact location where the shootout occurred, the hospital where Kelechi died, or even the doctor who pronounced him dead. And until now, the police officers responsible for his arrest and disappearance are yet to be identified.

2014

Onitsha, Anambra State

Okwuchukwu Onyemelue was a graduate of architecture and the first son of his family. On that day the 24th June, 2014, he was in his father’s car with his younger sister, Emmanuella Onyemelue when members of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) operatives stormed their residence, broke into the car, drew him out on the floor and began to beat him brutally. 

Okwuchukwu’s father came out, in utter shock, to find his son being beaten and he tried to raise an alarm. But a SARS official pointed a gun towards him, and he was forced to be silent. In that cold silence, they made away with Okwuchukwu never to be seen again by his family members.

After Okwuchukwu’s arrest by SARS, his family immediately headed to Awkuzu where he was held hostage, but they were prevented by CSP. James Nwafor from seeing their son. His friend, Malaika and his cousin, Odira Nwagbugbu who were arrested with him were released, but Okwuchukwu was never seen again. 

According to his family, around August, there was a Newspaper publication bearing the photo of Okwuchukwu and a few other men with the caption, “Boys Caught Stealing With Guns.” 

A few days after the publication, Okwuchukwu appeared on TV with a gunshot wound to his right leg and a gun in his hands, while he confessed to being an armed robber and was arrested at a fire exchange by the police!

Still the family kept on going to Awkuzu with the hope of seeing Okwuchukwu again. This was until CSP. James Nwafor told Okwuchukwu’s father that his son had been killed.

2014

Onitsha, Anambra State

Obinna Xandy Adimachukwu, 26, was a graduate of Business Administration from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, in his home-state. He was from a large family of six children of which he was the only son. His father is a well-to-do school owner who resides in Asaba, 44.3km from their hometown, Oraifite in Anambra State. After Obinna graduated from school, his father assisted him to open a shop at Olive plaza in Onitsha where he sold clothes. Obinna’s business prospered over the years and he was soon importing clothes from India and China and as such dealing regularly with foreign exchange.

It was while waiting for one of the goods he had ordered from India that Obinna was picked up by members of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian police. They searched him and found the sum of about $10,000 on him which he refused to surrender to them, insisting that it was his money and he had gotten it through legal means. They forced him into their van and took him away. 

In SARS custody, as Obinna’s father would come to find, they put Obinna in the cell where the most notorious criminals were being put and there he was beaten to death. Obinna’s father had gone to Awkuzu Sars where his son was taken to in order to secure the release of his son and several times, SARS officials denied any knowledge about his whereabouts. When he pushed further to get information, he was arrested and detained. Afterwards, an entourage was sent to his house, it was ransacked and they found a registered gun of his which they confiscated. 

Later on, he was released and it was later established that his son had indeed been in custody all the while. This time, when he asked to see his son, the head of Awkuzu SARS CSP. James Nwafor told him, unapologetically, that his son had been killed.

2004

Awka, Anambra State.

Ekene Anthony Akabuike, 24, was a final year undergraduate student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University. The new school session which was to be his last had just resumed. He had just returned, paid for a new apartment on campus, and was to move in two days. 

On the night of that day June 2nd 2004, his friend Chinedu, a son to the landlord and his girlfriend—and another friend whose name was Osita, passed the night in Ekene’s house. The following morning, SARS officials broke into the house, killed Chinedu instantly and arrested Ekene, Osita and Chinedu’s girlfriend. Osita and Chinedu’s girlfriend were granted bail, but Ekene was never seen again by his family.

Ekene’s elder brother, Obiora told POBIN project that the family had gotten to hear of the news of their son’s arrest at around 1pm on the day it happened and immediately swung into action to secure his release, but they were resisted from seeing their son by SARS officials. 

Later, Osita was released and when asked of Ekene, he narrated to them that Ekene had been killed. According to Osita, when they got to SARS custody, they were separated and taken to different places. Osita narrated how shortly, he heard gunshots from close range and the cries of dying people. Since then, the family is yet to see their son and have for about 17 years continued to probe, but have neither gotten any answer nor justice.

2013 – 2014

Azia, Anambra State

Paulinus Okolieidu was a father of 10, freelance journalist and school proprietor who juggled his multiple occupations in order to meet up his numerous responsibilities. Paulinus’ life as it was popularly known in Azia, Ihiala where he was based came to a disruption in 2013 when he was arrested by members of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and charged for being a kidnapper. He was not charged to court, and so was not tried or given any fair hearing in the matter. In spite of this, he spent eight months in SARS custody where according to his son, Ifechukwu Thaddeus Okolieidu, he suffered and endured all forms of manipulation and torture.

Mr. Okolieidu was released in 2014 and, embittered over the allegation, his soiled reputation and the trauma of his torture in SARS custody, swore to fight back and prove his innocence. Being a writer, he sought out to write a book detailing his life and an account of the torture he suffered in SARS custody. He finished the book shortly and titled it “The Shame of A Nation.” The book was published, sold impressively and got traction in the media and this led to Mr. Okolieidu being invited to the National Assembly so he could read the story to the Lawmakers in Abuja. 

Amidst Mr. Okolieidu’s frantic attempt to speak up for himself and get justice, he constantly received threat messages from different quarters. According to his son, Thaddeus, “My father was asked to shut up or face the consequences.” But keen on justice, Paulinius did not sidetrack on his mission. He was courageous and hopeful that eventually he would find justice. 

Armed by this courage, Paulinus set out on that morning in June 2014 to the car park at Azia junction where his son Thaddeus dropped him, and he boarded a bus headed to Abuja, to the National Assembly where he had been invited. That morning at the bus stop was the last time Ifechukwu or any of their family members ever saw their father till date. 

Mr. Okolieidu’s disappearance had a terrible devastation on the life of his children, many of whom dropped out of school. The school he ran folded up and his family has suffered the burden of his unexplained absence. 

Before the #EndSARS protests shook the country, they had continued to hope that their father was somewhere in police custody, and would one day be released to them. But through the ongoing judicial hearing, there has been nothing so far to account for his mysterious disappearance.

2019

Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State

On Tuesday, September 10th 2019, two students of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti; Oluwaseyi Kehinde and Joseph Okonofua, were killed by policemen attached to the convoy of Bisi Fayemi, wife of the Ekiti state governor.

Kehinde was a 100-level student of Crop Science and Horticulture, while Joseph Okonofua, a 300-level student of Biology Education. 

Students of the institution were protesting the poor electricity supply in the town, when they blocked the convoy of the governor’s wife, who was returning from an event in the area.

Sporadic gunshots from policemen in the convoy killed two students, injuring many others. Spokesperson for the Ekiti State Police Command, Caleb Ikechukwu denied the killings.

“Nobody was killed. There was no loss of life,” he said.

However, video evidence from the scene, widely circulated on social media showed policemen chasing some of the protesting students and shooting straight at them.

Over 2 years later, no investigations have been carried out on the matter and neither has anyone been brought to book for the killings.