Uchenna James Okafor who died in Akwuzu SARS detention not an armed robber – Family source tells neusroom
A family source has told Neusroom that Uchenna James Okafor, the 20-year-old who reportedly died in the detention of Akwuzu SARS (Special Anti Robbery Squad), is not an armed robber as claimed by the Anambra state police command.
According to the police in a statement on Monday, January 9, 2023, Okafor was arrested alongside his gang members involved in a robbery in the state. The police claimed that he died in detention, however, no reason was given for his death except that other members of his gang were still in detention.
Obianuju Iloanya, a close family source who spoke to Neusroom however said the young man was not an armed robber but had instead gotten into an altercation with a scrap seller on December 22, 2022.
According to the source who was visibly in tears when narrating the family’s side of the story, Okafor and two of his friends had sold pieces of metal scrap to a scrap dealer. When they found out that they had been short-changed, they insisted on either being paid the full value of the metals or they should be returned. The buyer however refused.
The source said: “This led to a fight between the boys and the scrap dealer that ended with the latter calling the local vigilante, Ebube Agu, to arrest the boys.”
Neusroom gathered that Okafor’s parents reached out to the scrap seller and agreed to pay damages of N30,000. They were however surprised when they found out that their son had not only been handed over to the police alongside his two friends but to Akwuzu SARS, a police department set up to handle violent crimes and has been accused in the past of extra-judicial killing.
The source said: “When his father got to the Akwuzu SARS on Tuesday, January 3rd to perfect the bail condition of his son, he was told that the officer to sign off the bail bond was not around and would have to return on Thursday, January 5. He was in a panic because everyone knows what happens when your loved one is locked up in Akwuzu SARS.”
On Thursday, his father went there again but was told that the officer in charge was not around. He decided to stay till the person returned and so was there from morning till evening.
The source said: “While the father was waiting, the officer whom they said was not around came out and the father was ushered into the office. That was where he was told that his son that during the night on Tuesday, his son hit his head against the cell wall repeatedly. They claimed by the time they took him to the hospital, he was dead.”
The source said the family has been trying to get his body but the police said they were still carrying out an investigation. They were therefore shocked at the armed-robbery tag being stamped on their son known for being responsible and well-brought up in the community.
“It is not fair. Even if he was an armed robber, which he is definitely not, do the police have the right to kill someone in their cell? This boy is well-known in the community. He has no police record and has never been involved in something like this. He was known as a community entertainer who sang and rapped at events. To now be killed and then tagged an armed robber is painful to the family.”
Akwuzu SARS has had an infamous reputation for alleged extra-judicial killing and profiling of young Nigerians. The police unit has been accused of rampant arrest and detention of innocent people as well as summarily executing alleged criminals.
These were some of the catalysts of the ENDSARS protest carried out by young Nigerians in October 2020. Although the federal government announced that the unit has been disbanded, officers who were part of the unit are believed to exist in different police departments under different names.
“What we want is justice,” the source said. “We don’t even know the fate of the other two boys in detention if Okafor who died has already been tagged an armed robber.
