Ayodele Olalere
For 22-years their blood has been crying for justice. Since July 1, 2001 when they were murdered by the police, the families of the late four youths, all indigenes of Ekwulobia, Anambra State, have waited patiently for the day when the spirit of their sons would finally find peace.
However, their hope and wishes were finally realised following the recent judgment by a Lagos State Hugh Court presided by Justice Olufunke Sule-Amzat which indicted the police for being responsible for the death of the young traders and awarded N1.6 billion in favour of the victims against the police.
The youths, who were traders at Ladipo market; Anthony Ezenwafor, Chukwuemeka Ezeofor, Izuchukwu Ezeoma, and Aloysius Osigwe were murdered by the police officers from Aguda Police Station, Surulere, on allegations that they were robbers and working for their master, Chief Jude Okolie ( now late) whom they had served before starting their own businesses.
On the fateful day, armed robbers had invaded their two bedroom apartment at 48, Olaitan Oduralu Street, Kilo bus stop Surulere but the youths managed to escape.
On their way back to their residence after the robbers had left, they were accosted by the police who accused them of being the armed robbers. All their explanations to the police that they were the victims of the robbery fell on deaf ears as the police immediately shot Anthony, Chukwuemeka and Izychukwu dead on the spot, took their corpses away and hurriedly buried them.
The fourth victim, Aloysius Osigwe was taken to the police station and locked up in the police cell. Having realised the gravity of what they had done and in an attempt to cover their tracks, the police also shot Aloysius dead..
Following the murder of the traders, youths who were members of the Ekwulobia Youths Association of which the deceased belong, dragged the police before the court.
They were led by Akaraka Chinwezie Ezeonara, Chris Okpara, Remigus Ezenwanne, and Ifeanyi Okoye as applicants, and the Inspector General of police, Attorney General of the Federation, Attorney General of Lagos State, Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Chief Marvellous Akpoyibo( then of Area C Police Command), and the DPO, Aguda Police station, as respondents.
Their case later came to be known as Ekwulobia Four. The applicants sought for reliefs that the murder of the youths was unconstitutional, extra-judicial, illegal,and an infringement on their right to life, liberty and dignity.
They also demanded for N4billion as damages and compensation to the families of the four victims. They also demanded that full and unbiased investigation be conducted into the incident and punitive measures to be taken against those found guilty.
The journey into getting justice was not a smooth one. Several petitions were written by the applicants and civil society groups to relevant authorities demanding that justice be served.
The matter first came up before Justice Oyindamola Ogala of Lagos High Court. In her ruling in 2013, Justice Ogala had ruled against the applicants on the ground that the applicants did not have the constitutional right to file an action on behalf of the deceased.
Not satisfied with the ruling of the lower court, the applicants filed an appeal. The appeal court, in its ruling upturned the judgement of the lower court and ruled in favour of the applicants. The higher court ordered that the case file be returned to the lower court and the case be decided on its merit.
The matter was assigned to Justice Sule-Amzat. In her judgment, the judge berated the police for murdering the youths in cold blood.
Hear her: ” I am of the view that the police mismanaged their firearms in shooting the suspects. The shooting was very unreasonable in the circumstance because there is nothing before the court showing any form of provocation by the four deceased victims. There has been a growing incident of policemen shooting people to death at the slightest opportunity under the pretext of carrying out lawful arrest. Every citizen has a right to life as guaranteed by the constitution,” she stated.
The judge added: ” A rifle handler owes the entire public the duty to handle such weapon with reasonable care and diligence A police officer on lawful duty owes the State a duty to enforce law and order and should not see himself as having been given a licence to kill or think he is at liberty to shoot recklessly. The action taken by the police in this instant were not in accordance with the law and due process as provided in the police Act; hence it amounts to violation of the fundamental rights of the four deceased petsons.”
The court finally held that fundamental rights of the victims were breached by the police and therefore were entitled to compensation. It awarded the sum of N400million to the family of the four deceased victims against all the respondents.
Reacting to the judgement, Akaraka expressed optimism that the judgement sum would be paid by the respondents. He thanked the judiciary for ensuring that justice was served 22-years after the murder of the victims.
