State Actors Behind Killing Of Enugu Lawyer, Nsukka NBA Alleges

State actors were behind the killing of Barr Elias Ugwu, who was murdered after he delivered ransom for the release of his cousin, one Alexander Ugwu, in Kogi State.

This is the position of the Nigerian Bar Association, Nsukka Branch, in a release signed by its Chairman, Barr Sunny Okoro. The deceased was a member of the branch.

It was gathered that Barr Ugwu’s cousin was kidnapped alongside five other passengers at Ijih Urban Area between Aloma and Ejule in Kogi State, and were taken into the bush and made to contact their relations for the payment of ransoms for their release.

The abducted cousin had contacted the deceased lawyer, who made efforts to raise the ransom and secure the release of his cousin.

Nsukka NBA claimed that before embarking on the adventure, the deceased reported to the Anti-Kidnapping Office of the Nigeria Police Force, and also the Divisional Headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force, Ogrute, Enugu-Ezike in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area, both in Enugu State, intimating both commands of the kidnapping, and his proposed journey to Kogi State to deliver the ransom.

According to NBA, Nsukka, “Our colleague proceeded to Kogi State to deliver the ransom as directed by the kidnappers. After delivering the ransom somewhere in Alede-Egume, and securing the release of his cousin, our colleague was making his way back to Anyigba where his cousin resides, with his cousin and one other person, Chidi Aneke, who accompanied him from Nsukka.

“When they got to Ojigbala-Egume, unknown to them that the police had laid an ambush for them, they drove into the ambush and the police, without an attempt at even stopping their vehicle, opened fire, and shot our colleague on the head.

“It is also worthy to mention that the police van was parked away from the road, to avoid suspicion as they laid in wait for the car.”

The body of lawyers claimed that after shooting the deceased, the other two occupants of the vehicle pleaded with the police to rush him to the hospital, after identifying themselves and explaining their mission in the area, “but the officers chose to treat them as suspected armed robbers, arrested and handcuffed the two survivors.

“At the time they eventually accepted to take our then dying colleague to the hospital, it was already too late and he was pronounced dead-on-arrival”.

Okoro, in the statement, described the explanation made by the Kogi State Police Command that the deceased was shot when he refused to stop after being flagged to do so as “distorted”.

Okoro stated that, “Our colleague, Elias Ugwu, left Enugu State, on Saturday, the 9th day of March 2024, the same day he was gruesomely killed by the police.

“It is therefore a deliberate misinformation to state that he and his companions were seen roaming the bush in Kogi State for two days or more prior to the 9th day of March, 2024.

“It is also a callous distortion to state that our colleague was flagged down and he refused to stop and that it was the tyres of the vehicle that the police targeted.

“Our colleague, by the account of the survivors of the incident, was never stopped at all, but was simply fired at by an officer later simply identified as Sampolo, on jumping out from the bush where he and his colleagues hid waiting for the vehicle.

“Why would the police allege that Elias Ugwu was killed in the bush when he had already entirely left the village where the ransom was paid, and was driving to Anyigba, and the victim of the kidnap was already reaching out to people, joyfully announcing his freedom? What are the police intending to hide?

“It’s disheartening that the Kogi State Police Command would, instead of showing sympathy and remorse for this obviously reckless act, choose rather to embark on churning out spurious allegations aimed at shielding their personnel from the law.”

The association claimed that its member was “deliberately and unjustifiably killed by state actors, and we will continue to push until justice is duly served.”

Kogi State Police Public Relations Officer, William Aya, in a release, had claimed the killing of Barr Ugwu followed his refusal to obey the police order to pull up when he was flagged down.

Aya stated that the surveillance that followed the killing was a robbery of some banks around the area, and the suspicion of the police that the vehicle driven by the Enugu lawyer was occupied by the suspected criminals.