EndSARS: In Memory Of Those Killed Illegally By The Nigerian Police
The Nigerian public has risen up in peaceful protest against police brutality in the country. With one voice, young Nigerians are calling for a visible dissolution of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), and an immediate reform and reorientation of the Police force. These protests have been ongoing across states within and outside the country for two weeks now.
Those who have lost their lives to the criminal acts of the police are not forgotten, their names are not lost, their deaths not in vain. We will always remember.
Ada Ifeanyi
Ada Ifeanyi, 20, was returning from a night club with her boyfriend and one other friend in the Ajegunle area of Lagos in the early hours of April 13, 2019, when Police officers chased their car and opened fire on the unarmed youths.
The Police said the officer who fired the shot, Inspector Diana Ojo, absconded after the incident. He was dismissed from the Police Force and declared wanted for Ada’s death. He is yet to be found, over one year after.
Adeyemo Rotimi
Adeyemo Rotimi Oke, a traffic officer with the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) was at his duty post controlling traffic in Iyana-Ipaja area of Lagos when he was shot dead by a SARS officer, Inspector Olukunle Olonade, in November 2018.
Olonade was confronted by Adeyemi for driving against traffic at Iyana-Ipaja roundabout, during the argument, he shot the LASTMA officer. An angry mob at the scene descended on the SARS officer and beat him to stupor before he was rescued by the Police and died on his way to the hospital.
The Lagos Commissioner of Police directed that the late Inspector be tried posthumously in orderly room and be recommended for dismissal from the Force.
Augustine Ugwu
Augustine Ugwu, a 27-year-old, final year law student of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Anambra and son of a retired Police officer, was murdered by a police officer at Nsukka, Enugu. May 2020.
He was reportedly arrested by the anti-cult group at a beer parlor and shot dead at the anti-cult office by a police officer.
Alex Ogbu
Alex Ogbu was an Abuja-based journalist felled by a police bullet while covering a protest by members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria in Abuja on January 21, 2020.
The police were dispersing the Shi’ites’ demonstration when gunshots were fired and Ogbu was hit by a stray bullet. While the police authorities claimed he died after hitting his head on a stone, an autopsy report indicated ‘brain evisceration’ as the direct cause of his death. Brain evisceration is an injury to the skull caused by a high-velocity bullet.
Azuamaka Victor Maduamago
Azuamaka Victor Maduamago, 24, was arrested in Onitsha, Anambra State, on August 20, 2008 and handed over to the widely acclaimed notorious SARS Awkuzu, whose former commander, James Nwafor, has been accused by hundreds of Nigerians of supervising the arrest and slaughter of many innocent young men in Anambra.
Azuamaka was reportedly denied access to a lawyer, medical care and was not allowed to see his family. In October 2008. The family were later informed that he had been transferred to the Force CID in Abuja, a claim the Force CID has denied.
Despite the uproar generated by Azuamaka’s case in 2008 and the order by the IGP for an investigation of his case in September 2009, his whereabouts remain unknown and his family believes he has been killed by the police.
Boma Augustine Fingesi
Boma Augustine Fingesi was one of the victims of Police indiscriminate arrest. He was arrested on October 15, 2008 and was taken to the State Intelligence and Investigation Bureau (SIIB) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
He was later paraded in front of journalists as a suspected kidnapper. And that was the last his family heard about him. When Boma’s family visited the police station, they were told he had been released on bail but his whereabouts remain unknown.
The family claimed the police later told them Boma had never been brought to the police station despite being paraded as a suspected kidnapper. 12 years after, Boma is still missing.
Chibuike Anams
Chibuike Anams, a 23-year-old student was with two friends at a guesthouse in Rivers State on 24 July 2009 when he was shot dead by Police who raided the guest house.
Any young Nigerian familiar with the many atrocities of the Nigerian Police would not think twice before taking to his heels when he sees police raiding an area. This is exactly what Anams attempted to do, but the police shot him and he died on the spot.
Again, he was not suspected nor charged of any crime. Anams was wasted.
Chidi Odinauwa
Chidi Odinauwa, 26, was arrested with Steven Agbanyim on April 28, 2009. They were not charged for any offence, neither were they taken to court until they suddenly disappeared mysteriously in police custody at Borokiri station in Port Harcourt in Rivers State.
The police initially confirmed to their relatives that the two men were in custody, but a month after, the Police denied knowledge of their whereabouts and the family, like many other Nigerians, are helpless as the reign of impunity of the Nigeria Police continues unchecked.
Chima Ikwunado
Chima Ikwunado, a mechanic, was arrested, detained, extorted and extremely tortured to death by men of the Nigerian Police Force in Rivers State in December 2019, on allegations of car theft. His remains were not released to his family until social media uproar forced the Police to bow to public pressure in February 2020.
Four policemen involved in the torture of Chima and his friends – Ayogu Fidelis, 42, Eke Chibuzor, 36, Egbunefu Felix, 32 and Miss Rose Georgewill, 30, have been arrested and presently facing faced seven counts charges bothering on murder and conspiracy.
Chimaobi Nwogu
Chimaobi Nwogu, a motorcycle rider was chased from a military checkpoint to his village at Umoukereke Ngwa in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia where he was shot dead by a soldier, Lance Cpl. Ajayi Johnson over N100 bribe on August 7, 2019.
The 82 Division of the Nigerian Army said it has dismissed Johnson and handed him over to the Police for investigation.
Chinedu Obi
Chinedu Obi aka Zinquest was an up and coming music artiste arrested in Sango, in Ogun State for having tattoos on his body.
On July 19, 2019, the Police gunned him down while he was protesting his arrest. They claimed he was shot for destroying 17 vehicles parked on the premises of the Area Command. Instead of taking him to the hospital, the Police watched and filmed him as he writhe in pain in the pool of his own blood until he died.
Daniel Chibuike
Daniel Chibuike, aka Sleek, was a 20-year-old musician allegedly shot dead by a policeman in the Elelenwo area of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, in September, 2020.
Sleek and his friend Reuben were standing in front of a hotel waiting for a cab when they saw SARS officers coming towards their direction, out of fear, they fled and the SARS operatives chased them and labelled them thieves in order to apprehend them. A riot policeman close to the scene who heard the SARS officers screaming ‘thief’ as they chase the duo, shot Daniel.
Daniel Adewuyi Tella
Daniel Adewuyi, 27, and a graduate in Banking and Finance, was awaiting youth service when he was arrested on February 7, 2006 on his way home in Festac, Lagos.
Adewuyi died in police custody and the police, in their usual claim, said the deceased sustained injuries all over his body when he jumped out of a moving police vehicle but his family said the police took the money he had for his youth service and might have tortured him to death in an attempt to get more.
Emmanuel Egbo
Emmanuel Egbo, a 15-year-old boy, was in front of his uncle’s house in Enugu playing with other children when he was shot dead by a police officer, in September 2008.
His offence? The Police claimed the teenager was an armed robber. The case was not investigated, Emmanuel’s family said the Police simply told them “the boy was an armed robber and the case had been closed.”
His remains were also not released to the family and in August 2009, the family said they discovered that Emmanuel’s body had disappeared from the mortuary; as of November 2009, the body is still missing.
Emeka Matthew Onovo
Emeka Matthew Onovo, a 22-year-old student, first and only son of his parents, was killed in a police shootout near his father’s house, shortly after leaving the house in Enugu on the morning of July 4 2008.
When his father went to the police to report him missing, neighbours told him about the shoutout, at the scene he found his son’s glasses on the ground.
The police claimed that Emeka was an armed robber, but eyewitnesses said he was unarmed when he was shot by the police. The case was not investigated and no one was held accountable for the killing of the 22-year-old student.
Fatai Oladipupo
Fatai Oladipupo, a 28-year-old Muslim cleric, was shot dead on Wednesday May 20, 2020 by a police inspector Charles Okoro in Igando, Ikotun area of Lagos.
A day after the incident, the Police said Okoro has been arrested and is facing trial for the murder.
Femi Bello
Femi Bello, a 300 level student of Economics of the Kaduna State University, was arrested and killed by policemen in Nasarawa State, in December 2014.
Bello was reportedly arrested when he went to visit his friend, by the time his family got wind of his arrest and went to the police station, the DPO welcomed them with news of Bello’s death, claiming the undergraduate jumped off a moving van and died.
Godgift Ferguson Ekerete
Godgift Ferguson Ekerete was arrested alongside other victims during a raid by police on July 4, 2008 in Abonnema Wharf waterfront community in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
They were taken to Mile one Police station where Godgift and three others were reportedly shot dead that day. When Godgift’s parents went to the police station later that day, they were informed that their 24-year-old son had been killed. He was not charged for any offence and nobody has been held accountable.
As at 2011, efforts by his parents to retrieve his remains for burial was futile.
Harry Ataria
Harry Ataria, 26, was one of the four men arrested indiscriminately in Port Harcourt on July 4, 2008 during a raid by Police.
Ataria and other men arrested didn’t spend the night at the Mile 1 Police Station where they were detained. Before the arrival of their family members, the Police, claiming they were “armed robbers and cultists”, had killed them and deposited their remains in the mortuary.
Nobody has been held accountable for their deaths as the police authorities never investigated the incident.
Hadijat Sikiru
Hadijat Sikiru, a teenager, was shot dead by a trigger-happy policeman, who was said to be intoxicated while on duty, in the Adamo area of Ikorodu, Lagos, on Monday march 18, 2019.
The Police, however, claimed Hadijat was hit by a stray bullet when a team of policemen exchanged gunfire with suspected cultists while on surveillance duty around Adamo.
Ibrahim Momodu
Momodu, a final year student of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), was shot dead and buried by Police in Benin, Edo state on May 27, 2013. The Police claimed he was an armed robber.
Unlike many other victims of Police extrajudicial killings, Momodu got justice three years after his gruesome murder. In January 2016, a Benin High Court sentenced his killer, Corporal Amadin Idahosa to life imprisonment for manslaughter.
Ifeoma Abugu
Ifeoma Abugu, 28, was allegedly sexually assaulted and killed by the personnel of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, in Abuja, four days after her introduction with her fiance.
On September 10, 2020, three policemen stormed the residence of Ifeoma’s fiancé, Afam Ugwunwa, in Abuja to arrest him; in his absence, they arrested Ifeoma and whisked her to an unknown destination.
Efforts by the family to know the police station she was taken to proved abortive until Ugwunwa got a call the next day that Ifeoma had died and her corpse had been deposited in the morgue.
Ikechukwu Ilohamauzo
Ikechukwu Ilohamauzo, a 55-year-old man was felled by bullets from gunshots fired by police officers who opened fire to disperse End SARS protesters, in Surulere, Lagos, on October 12, 2020.
His boss said Ikechukwu got out of the car to ease him when he was hit by a police bullet.
Jimoh Isiaq, 20, Ganiyu Moshood Alabi, Adeoye Taiwo
Jimoh Isiaq, 20, Ganiyu Moshood Alabi and Adeoye Taiwo were shot dead in Ogbomosho, Oyo State during the #EndSars protests on Saturday October 10, 2020.
The Police is yet to react to the killing of the three men by its operatives.
Joseph Okonofua
Joseph Okonofua was one of the students of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) shot dead by police during a protest in their university community on September 10, 2019.
The protest turned violent after police officers shot sporadically at protesting students trying to have a conversation with the wife of the Ekiti State governor, Bisi Fayemi, on poor electricity in the community.
While the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) claimed the police officers were security details of the Governor’s wife, the Police said no gunshots were fired at the incident despite viral video showing Police openly shooting at fleeing students.
Joseph Pessu:
Joseph Pessu was shot dead in Warri, Delta State, on Thursday April 2, 2020, by a soldier for allegedly flouting the state government’s COVID-19 curfew.
Although the Warri Area Commander of the Police, ACP Mohammed Garba, said the soldier who killed Pessu had been identified and gave an assurance that justice would be served, the case appears to have been buried and Pessu may never get justice.
Kolade Johnson
Kolade Johnson was shot by officers attached to the Special Anti-Cultism Squad (SACS) during a raid of a football viewing center in Lagos on Sunday March 31, 2019.
The officer who fired the shot, Inspector Ogunyemi Olalekan has been dismissed from the Force and he is presently standing trial for the murder.
Leo Micah Isaiah
Leo Miah Isaiah, a student of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, (FUTO) was kidnapped in Imo State on May 2, 2020, by a gang led by a serving military officer and a deserter.
After withdrawing all the money in his account, the four-man gang led by Corporal Ifeanyi Nwaiwu of the Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering, Makurdi, sold Leo’s car, killed him and left his body in a bush in Anambra State. They have all been arrested.
Modebayo Awosika
Awosika, a former Relationship Manager with First Bank of Nigeria Limited, was driving home in his SUV in the early hours of October 1, 2008, when he was shot in the head at Lekki first roundabout, Lekki in Lagos.
The Police set his car on fire and claimed he died from injuries he sustained when his vehicle hit a stationary police patrol vehicle but later admitted after an autopsy report revealed he died of s gunshot. In 2014, a Lagos High Court awarded the payment of N500 million in damages to his widow by the Police.
Mus’ab Sammani
Mus’ab Sammani, a graduate of computer science from an Indian University, was shot dead in Kano in December 2019 by police, barely four months after returning to Nigeria.
A police sergeant guarding a Stanbic IBTC Bank in the city reportedly shot the unarmed 21-year-old man after he [Mus’ab] had an argument with a tricycle rider who hit his car.
The Kano Police Command said the killer policeman had been arrested and investigation had since commenced to unravel the circumstances behind the incident. Ten months after, no update has been given on the case.
Oluwaseyi Kehinde
Oluwaseyi Kehinde was one of the students of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) shot dead by police during a protest in Oye-Ekiti in Ekiti State, on September 10, 2019.
The protest turned violent after police officers reportedly shot at protesting students who were trying to speak with the wife of the Ekiti State governor, Bisi Fayemi, over the poor electricity in the community.
The Police have said no gunshots were fired at the incident despite viral videos showing Police openly shooting at fleeing students.
Ogar Jumbo
Ogar Jumbo, a Civil Defence officer was beaten to death by police officers on Wednesday March 20, 2019 in Abuja in the presence of his wife and children.
The police officers accused the assistant civil defence superintendent of violating traffic regulations.
Peter Chibuzor Ofurum
Peter Ofurum was a first class Accounting student of the University of Port Harcourt. He was allegedly shot dead on Monday April 11, 2016, by Police officers called in to disperse the students during a protest against the increase in their school fees.
The Rivers State Police Command denied shooting and killing Peter Ofurum. The Command’s Spokesman, Ahmad Muhammad, said the police only used ‘minimal force’ to contain the riotous students today.
Rinji Bala Peter
Rinji Bala, a 20-year-old student of the University of Jos (UNIJOS), was shot dead by a soldier attached to the Special Task Force (STF) Operation Safe Haven in Jos, Plateau State, on Tuesday May 12, 2020.
Rinji and five other friends were arrested by soldiers in Hwolshe community, Jos South, and were released later in the night. As they were leaving the military base, one of the soldiers opened fire on them.
The Nigerian Army in its reaction claimed the soldier who shot the deceased mistook him for a fleeing suspect and claimed the personnel had been arrested and detained.
Solomon Eze
Solomon Eze, 52, was shot dead in Karimo community, FCT, Abuja, when policemen went to the community to arrest a yet to be identified suspect on Sunday May 10, 2020.
The FCT Police Command announced that it had arrested and detained the policeman responsible for Eze’s death but the name of the officer was never revealed.
Steven Agbanyim
Steven Agbanyim, 29, was arrested with Chidi Odinauwa on April 18, 2009 and was taken into police custody in Borokiri Police Station, Port Harcourt.
He never returned home to his family. The last his family heard of him was on April 27, 2009 when they visited the Borokiri station. Police have since denied having Steven in custody and his family believe he may have suffered the same fate like other young men wrongly profiled by the police and killed without trial.
Tina Ezekwe
Tina Ezekwe, 16, was at Iyana-Oworo bus stop in Lagos, where she sold fruits for her mother when a police officer arguing with a bus driver over bribe fired shots and a stray bullet hit Tina on Monday May 26, 2020.
She died three days later, on Thursday May 28, at a hospital in Lagos Island.
The Lagos Police Command announced, on June 1, 2020, that it had arrested and commenced disciplinary procedures against the two officers – ASP Theophilus Otobo and Inspector Oguntoba Olamigoke, indicted in the incident. There has been no update on the case after then.
Tony Oruama
Tony Oruama, 21, was one of the three men arrested alongside Godgift Ekerete during a raid by police in Port Harcourt in July 2008.
He was also cut off in his prime like Godgift. He was shot dead on the day of his arrest at Mile 1 police station and his remains were left in the morgue for more than three years as the Police refused to permit their families to retrieve them for burial.
The Police claimed Tony and others arrested during the raid were cultists and armed robbers. The line sounds familiar, it is the same line the Police have used, for more than 20 years, to profile many young Nigerians in a bid to extort and kill them when they refuse to pay bribe.
Tunde Nafiu
Tunde Nafiu, 30, was shot dead by a SARS officer, Gbadamosi Lukman, while he was trying to board a commercial motorcycle in Iwo, Osun State on the night of Thursday August 23, 2018.
The Police said the alleged killer policeman, Gbadamosi, had been arrested, dismissed and taken down to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Osogbo for investigation.
Yemi Ajayi
Yemi Ajayi, 32, was reportedly on his way to work with his cousin Kayode Atanda, on July 10, 2020, when they were shot by Police officers in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Ajayi and his Atanda were shot in their car when a team from the Agodi command tried to stop them at Iwo road. While the bullet hit Atanda in the arm, Ajayi was unlucky, the shot hit him in the stomach and he died at the spot.
Police claimed the three officers have been arrested and were being investigated but like other cases of police extra-judicial killings, the case appears to have been buried as the officers may never face trial.
Iraoya Godwin
A peaceful protester at Lekki tollgate was killed as men of the Nigerian army fired shots into the air to disperse protesters. Godwin from Otuo Auchi, Edo state, was killed in what is now being described as the Lekki Tollgate massacre, on Tuesday, 20th October, 2020.
Chijioke Emmanuel Tony
A graduate from Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Abia state, Tony had been seen earlier in the day full of life and energetic spirit, he was part of the peaceful protests at Lekki tollgate. By night time, he was recorded dead from gunshots fired by men of the Nigerian army.
Oke Obi-Enadhuze
Oke, a designer, lived at the Makinde police barracks, Oshodi with his family. He was killed during the EndSARS protests after thugs attacked the Makinde police station, setting it on fire, before finally gaining access to the Obi-Enadhuze apartment. Oke was attacked, his home ransacked and set on fire. He passed away before
