Joseph Eidonojie-Ugbeni

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