In their songs, they expressed their anger, wondering why justice could not be carried in the alleged murder of their four brothers. Ezeonara and his kinsmen have been fighting for justice for 14 years now, but there seems to be only disappointment at the end of every tunnel.
Yet, he has vowed that they would never stop asking for justice. He has now, once again, donned his armour and sharpened his spear, for another round of war. He said he was up again because he believes that the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, will look into the matter and do what is right and needful.
Aside from demanding that the remains of their brothers be given to them, they are also insisting that a compensation of N4 billion be given to the families of the deceased whose lives were shattered by the demise of their beloved ones. “I’ve already started interacting with the IGP. He said I should furnish him with the facts. But I reminded him that he had the facts when he was the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), in charge of the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba,” said Ezeonara.
He stated that it was during the tenure of a former IGP, Mohammed Abubakar, that he got to know that his brothers had been buried. He said: “All along, the police had been telling us that their corpses were in the morgue. When we petitioned and approached Abubakar, he told us that for proper investigations to be carried, the bodies would have to be exhumed. It was then I knew they had buried them.
But they deserve a befitting burial. The police should exhume their corpses and give them to us!” Recalling how the four young men, were killed for a crime they didn’t commit in their compound on July 1, 2001 at No. 48, Olaitan Street, by Kilo Bus Stop, Surulere, Lagos State, he said, “I know that the police made a mistake, but tried to cover up. I don’t know the policemen who shot our four brothers, but I heard that the policemen who stormed into their compound were over 20. They shot these men dead. “They killed three on the spot and took Aloysius to Aguda Police Station.
They shot Aloysius in the leg before dragging him to the station. When our people rushed to Aguda, they found that Aloysius had been killed and saw him in a pool of fresh blood! Eyewitnesses in the compound where these men lived in twobedroom apartment narrated this incident to us.”
Fourteen years ago, the four men were sleeping when they heard someone banging on the door. The banging was coming from armed robbers and they called the name of Aloysius. The bandits were said to have robbed some residents in the area before heading for the boys-quarter apartment of the four men. The robbers allegedly tried to break into the apartment, but the iron door stopped them.
While the bandits were hitting the door and making frantic efforts to gain entrance, the four men fled through their apartment window and scaled the fence separating their building from the next compound. They bolted and looked for a hiding place. When they were sure that the robbers had left, they crawled out and headed back home. They were already in their compound when a team of policemen, alleged to be over 20, also entered the compound. Ezeonara narrated: “They were returning to their apartment when the police came.
Our brothers were in their boxers. They escaped in a hurry. Police saw them still in their boxers. They shot and killed three on the spot. Their neighbours and eyewitnesses told us that the police shot them point blank! There was no quarrel or fighting. They took Aloysius alive after shooting him in the leg. They took him to Aguda Police Station. Aloysius was killed at the police station. One moment, our brothers were alive, the next, we saw their corpses in television, with police labelling them as armed robbers! The last time we saw their corpses was on the television.
Police never allowed us to see their remains till date!” He said that after killing the men, the police went to the home of the man under whom they learnt a trade, hoping to arrest him. The man, Chief Jude Okolie, was alleged by the police to be the chief sponsor of the supposed robbery gang.
When they got to Okolie’s home, they scaled the fence into the compound instead of knocking on the gate. They searched everywhere but couldn’t find any gun and ammunition. Incidentally, Okolie travelled around that period. It was his wife they met at home. They told Mrs. Okolie that Aloysius before he died confessed to being an armed robber and mentioned Okolie as their sponsor.
“They told Mrs. Okolie to follow them to Aguda Police Station, to see Aloysius confessing. But when she got there, it was Aloysius’ corpse, in a pool of fresh blood, that she saw,” recalled Ezeonara. “Ironically, this same Chief Okolie was never arrested! If you say someone was sponsoring armed robbers, shouldn’t you arrest the person? But Okolie was never arrested for once! Okolie died five years ago in an automobile accident. He even hired lawyers over this case before his demise. After police killed them, they took their corpses to Area C Police Command, Surulere.” He stated that July 1, 2015 made it exactly 14 years that the four men were killed. He noted that the extra judicial execution was carried out by trigger-happy policemen, then serving at Aguda Police Station under Area ‘C’ of the Lagos State Police Command. The four men were traders at Ladipo Main Market, Mushin in Lagos.
“All we want is to ensure that the killers of our brothers are brought to account and the victims’ family members adequately compensated. But despite our best efforts, successive police authorities have continued to deny us the justice we so much deserve and demand,” said one of the men. Ezeonara added: “Police have not shown any evidence to impugn the character of our brothers or to substantiate their claim that our brothers were armed robbers. Mr. Mike Okiro, current chairman of the Police Service Commission was the CP in Lagos State as at the time this extrajudicial killing of the four men took place.
Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo was the Area C Commander in Surulere under which Aguda Police Station is. Mr. Chilaka was the then Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), in Lagos. Chilaka made a spirited defence of the killings by giving the four youths up as armed robbers even without any investigation.”
Revealing efforts made in the quest for justice, Ezeonara said they engaged the services of different lawyers and later took the case to different human rights NGOs, including Civil Liberties Organisation, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) and NOPRIN who all wrote several letters, bringing the facts of the extrajudicial killings to the notice of successive IGPs since the time of Tafa Balogun as IGP. All appeals and calls on the authorities to investigate the case with a view to identifying the killers and bring them to book as well as ensuring adequate compensation for the victims’ families had not received any serious or conclusive action from police authorities.
One of such letters was written by Dr. Chris Mustapha Nwaokobia Jnr., dated November 10, 2009. In response to the letter, the then IGP caused a communication dated December 11, 2009 to the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) ‘D’ Department Force CID, Force Headquarters, Abuja, directing him to investigate.
But neither the petitioners nor their lawyer have been informed of any action taken by the DIG. In the light of this, Dare Adeyeye Esq., wrote another letter dated May 10, 2012 drawing the attention of the IGP to this development. He implored the IGP to use his good office to compel the police authorities to take necessary action as stated in his letter dated December 11, 2009 to the DIG.
The current IGP, who was the DCP, Panti, Yaba, investigated this case whereupon Ezeonara was invited on June 24, 2010 and made statements. The IGP had also requested additional information which the CDHR furnished him through a letter dated June 16, 2015. Ezeonara explained that in their determination to attain justice in this matter, Ekwulobia Youths Association addressed a letter, dated November 22, 2012 to the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minster of Justice.
In response to the letter by the youth association, the AGF, through a letter dated March 12, 2013 and signed on his behalf by Ofulue L. N. Assistant Director, Federal Ministry of Justice, requested the IGP to provide the Attorney General of Lagos State with the outcome of police investigation into the killing of the four youths, for further necessary action. As at July 4, 2013, the IG had not responded to the AGF’s request.
This prompted the Ekwulobia men to approach NOPRIN. The NGO once again, wrote to the IGP, urging him to respond without further delay to the request by the justice minister that his office should provide the AG Lagos with the outcome of police investigation into the extrajudicial execution of the ‘Ekwulobia 4.’ There was still no response from the IG even after NOPRIN sent a reminder.
NOPRIN, in its reminder, expressed concern that four months after it wrote to the IG requesting him to respond to the AGF’s letter, no known action had been taken to ensure justice for the victims and for their indigent parents and kinsmen in Ekwulobia Youths Association. “We also recall that the current IGP, who was the DCP, Panti, Yaba, investigated this case whereupon I was invited on June 24, 2010 and made statements.
The IGP had also requested additional information which the CDHR furnished him through a letter dated June 16, 2015,” said Ezeonara. The men, on June 9, 2014 filed an action in court to enforce the fundamental human rights of their murdered brothers. Ezeonara said: “We filed a suit before Justice Oyindamola Ogala of Igbosere High Court in Igbosere, Lagos. The suit was filed against the IGP, the AGF, the AG of Lagos State, the then Area ‘C’ Commander, Mr. Marvellous Akpoyibo, and the DPO, Aguda Police Station.
“The judge after nearly one year of legal rigmarole, ruled on March 9, 2015, to our chagrin, that we could not bring the action under the fundamental human rights enforcement procedure. We believe that the judge’s ruling was yet another subterfuge to deny us justice,” said Ezeonara.
“But we are not deterred. We will never give up the fight until we get justice! We will continue to fight until we take possession of the remains of our innocent brothers and give them a befitting burial in our ancestral home, and until we have secured compensation for their poor, suffering families.” Ezeonara further said: “Our hope is raised by the commitment expressed by the current IGP in his several speeches that he will tackle corruption and abuse of human rights in the Nigeria Police. We appeal to the IGP to reopen investigation into this case of the extrajudicial killing of our four brothers.”
He said that he and his people were seriously concerned about the alarming spate of extrajudicial killings in Nigeria and the impunity that protects perpetrators due partly to the failure by police authorities to ensure effective investigations to bring perpetrators to account. “In the alternative, if investigation has already been concluded, the IGP should make the report of investigation available to the AG of Lagos State, as requested by the AGF, so that the perpetrators could be subjected to criminal trial for their heinous crime of murder.
“We call on the IGP to demonstrate greater commitment to ending impunity for extrajudicial killings in Nigeria. He should, in keeping with international human rights standards which Nigeria subscribes to, ensure that all cases of extrajudicial killing are promptly, impartially and exhaustively investigated and perpetrators brought to trial while victims are guaranteed adequate remedy and justice.”
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