7th July, 2023
A woman identified Obiajunu Iloanya has begun a one-woman protest for her missing brother, Chijioke Iloanya, who went missing after being detained by the defunct notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS of the Nigerian Police Force in Awkuzu area of Anambra State.
Popularly called Awkuzu SARS, the police unit in Anambra was notorious for extra-judicial killing of suspects and disappearance of detainees in its custody especially when it was led by one CSP James Nwafor.
Notorious activities of CSP James Nwafor had come under focus during the nationwide #EndSARS protests of 2020.
Obianuju had in a documentary tagged Awaiting Trial shared her experience on how her brother has gone missing till today after he was arrested by the SARS operatives in Awkuzu.
Obiajunu said her one woman protest at the National Assembly was aimed at calling attention to police brutality in the country and the evil James Nwafor had done and to demand for justice.
She sad she had also submitted her petitions to the Government of Anambra state on the disappearance of her brother.
“I don’t have any options, except to keep on fighting for justice. First, for my brother and my family. But also for other victims. I believe that as long as you are a Nigerian, you are living under the democracy called the Nigerian State, you have a right to justice and you should get it,” Obiajunu shared while speaking on why she is on this one-woman protest.
“Until people are being made to pay for their crimes, crime will continue to proliferate in Nigeria. An example is Awkuzu SARS. James Nwafor has retired from the Police Force years ago, but till today, the seed of extrajudicial killings, violation of huma rights that he has sown in Awkuzu SARS has continued to grow. You still see people being arrested, taken to that station and either disappeared or died in custody for no justifiable reason. That is because James Nwafor got away with the crimes he committed and boasted about being able to get away with it; ‘I have killed your son and there is nothing you can do about it’, he told my parents. And because nothing has truly been done about it, that it why others are emboldened to do more because they know nothing will happen to them. When James Nwafor and other rogue Police officers get punished for the crimes they have committed, it will serve as a lesson to others who may want to tow their line.”
“That is why I do what I do, protesting, standing under the sun for hours with my legs aching and my body aching and I am not tired. Of course, I am physically tired, but, I am holding on because I want the average Nigerian to get at least the semblance of justice,”, she added.
“My demands are simple”, she shared on her Twitter handle, listing her three demands, which include the arrest and prosecution of James Nwafor, the release of the #EndSARS panel reports of all states and the whitepapers, and the release of all #EndSARS protesters still in prison.
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Awaiting Trial is a documentary film that follows the lives of 3 central families caught by the injustice of the Nigerian Police, and down held by its criminal justice system. Directed by Chude Jideonwo, the film documents not just the systems but the people they destroy and presents the devastating ramifications not just in terms of justice and fairness, but in terms of destroying families, upturning mental balance, and creating an environment and culture of fear.
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