It has been more than eight years since operatives of the now-defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) abducted John Anozie from his Lagos home, yet his wife, Nnenna Anozie, continues to search for justice in a system that has repeatedly failed her, premiumtimesng reports.
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On the quiet morning of June 15, 2017, just before 8 a.m., Mr. Anozie, then 43 years old, was set to drive out of their compound in Lagos. As the security guard flung the gate open, five armed men in mufti stormed in with their guns drawn.
“One of them glanced through his phone, as if checking the photo of his prey, and confirmed their target,” Mrs. Anozie recalled.
The men, later identified as operatives of SARS from the Awkuzu branch in Anambra State, dragged Mr. Anozie out of the car and shoved him into his bedroom at gunpoint.
“Anthony Obiozor Ikechukwu, the gang leader, ransacked wardrobes and drawers, seizing cash and a briefcase, which he handed to Emeana Uzochukwu,” Mrs. Anozie told PREMIUM TIMES. “They also took our passports, birth certificates and other personal documents.”
When Mrs. Anozie tried to call a friend to help take their four children away, one of the invaders pointed a gun at her. “He ordered me to hand over my phone, or he would shoot. They collected all the phones they saw, good or bad,” she said.
Before leaving with the helpless Mr. Anozie, the police officers took the family’s two SUVs and the keys to another Infiniti Q45.
Mrs. Anozie recalled one of the officers saying: “Look for someone to manage your husband’s business. Nothing in this country, neither the court nor any human being, can do anything about this matter.”
More than eight years on, that threat echoes in her mind. “I thought whatever made Uzochukwu Emeana say this must be very strange,” she said, her voice cracking. “And no wonder, nothing has been done by the police in over eight years.”
The mention of Awkuzu SARS sent shivers down the spines of many Nigerians. Those who went in rarely came out. The cruelty of its officers gained national notoriety.
Mrs. Anozie only found out who abducted her husband by sheer luck of instinct. She approached one of the operatives who remained outside during the raid, and he gave her his contact information.
“His name is Ibe. I followed up with him, and he told me that I should come to Awkuzu SARS,” she said.
When she first visited the office, she recognised Mr. Obiozor, who led the team that seized her husband. According to her, Mr. Obiozor demanded N5 million to allow her husband to speak to her. She refused, hoping that reason would prevail. However, each time she returned, she was stopped by Sunday Okpe, then Officer-in-Charge of Anambra SARS, and never allowed to see her husband.
When SARS failed to take Mr. Anozie to court, his wife filed a right enforcement suit at the Anambra State High Court in Ogidi.
Nearly seven weeks after Mr. Anozie’s disappearance, the court ordered the police on July 24, 2017, to release or charge him in court. The order was ignored.
Months later, police told the court he died in custody. Another ruling from the same court on April 16, 2018, ordered the release of his body. The police snubbed the order.
Mrs. Anozie petitioned the then-Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, whose X-Squad investigation indicted two officers, Emeana and John Eze, while another suspect, “Tboy,” fled.
The police officers denied seizing any property from Mr. Anozie. But a Force Headquarters investigation confirmed the seizure and found that the vehicles taken by the officers were likely diverted.
Police investigators found withdrawals from Mr. Anozie’s Zenith Bank account days after his abduction. Yet, no prosecution or restitution followed.
“There’s a cabal in the force,” Mrs. Anozie said, breaking into tears. “The police deliberately and maliciously failed me.”
In 2020, Mrs. Anozie petitioned the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Months later, the #EndSARS protests swept across the country. She said the movement felt like “thousands were finally echoing the pain” her “family had carried” for years.
Her petition was referred to the judicial panel of inquiry set up in Abuja on behalf of the federal government. However, her hope soon gave way to frustration.
The accused police officers – Sunday Okpe, Anthony Obiozor Ikechukwu, Emeana Uzochukwu, John Eze, and Oriole (“Tboy”) – refused to honour the panel’s repeated summonses, and the police authorities spurned the panel’s calls to facilitate their appearance.
The case was adjourned about 12 times in two years for the named police officers to appear. Mrs. Anozie travelled by air from Lagos to Abuja each time. She also told the panel she had received threats from Mr. Okpe.
Due to a lack of cooperation from the police, the panel declared the case inconclusive.
The panel headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Suleiman Galadima rebuked Ogbeh Ochogwu, a deputy commissioner of police and head of the Legal Department, for disobeying directives issued in Mr. Anozie’s case.
On April 25, 2022, the panel directed Inspector-General Usman Alkali Baba to arrest and produce Mr. Ochogwu, but nothing happened.
In 2023, through Falana and Falana Chambers, Mrs. Anozie petitioned the current IGP Kayode Egbetokun. When the police failed to act, she hired another lawyer, Vincent Adodo, to invoke the Freedom of Information Act, seeking information regarding the case. The police ignored the request, prompting her to file a lawsuit at the Federal High Court, Abuja.
On September 24, 2025, Judge Binta Nyako ordered Mr. Egbetokun to hand over four officers for prosecution and release the case files within seven days.
It has been over three months since the judgment, yet nothing has been done.
“What has happened over these eight years is enough to kill me,” Mrs. Anozie told PREMIUM TIMES. Only her “quest for justice, love for her husband, and concern for her children” kept her going.
The long legal and administrative fight has drained Mrs. Anozie emotionally and financially. “I’ve spent millions of naira since the first day after the incident,” she said, citing trips to the NHRC, the panel, police offices, legal fees, and payments to officers in Lagos and Anambra for over eight years.
“The demoralisation, persistent chest pain, constant headaches, shocks, and other complications have landed me in hospital several times. Millions have also gone into just keeping me alive,” she said through tears. “Each time we hear a sound at the gate, it feels like they have come again. We hardly sleep.”
Her children also carry the pain. “Sometimes they go to school and at events that involve their father, they just sit in silence watching,” she said.
Human rights lawyer Sylvester Agih rated the #EndSARS protest’s overall effectiveness at three out of 10, saying it “achieved limited success.”
As of April 2024, only Lagos, Osun, Ekiti, and the FCT had paid compensations to families, leaving N1.77 billion unpaid across 25 states, while 13 states had yet to submit their reports to the NHRC.
The #EndSARS panel in Abuja recommended the prosecution and dismissal of 28 police officers for their involvement in extrajudicial killing and enforced disappearance. The NHRC confirmed that the panel’s recommendations for prosecution were not implemented.
Soweto Hassan, who participated in the October 2020 #EndSARS demonstrations, said “none of the core issues raised during the protest were resolved.” He said SARS disappeared in name only, adding that illegal roadblocks, extortion and extrajudicial killings continue.
In its October 2024 statement, Amnesty International said it still received near-daily complaints of police abuses across Nigeria.
Mr. Hassan warned that “another large-scale protest, greater than the #EndSARS movement, is inevitable. The youth will not tolerate oppression indefinitely.”
Lawyer Abayomi Amupitan condemned the violation of Mr. Anozie’s rights, saying it “defies the spirit of the Nigerian constitution.” He urged President Bola Tinubu to intervene.
“Officers who flout court orders must be held accountable,” he said. “This is not only about justice for one family; it affects Nigeria’s reputation. When the country fails to uphold human dignity, no other nation will respect her.”
Mrs. Anozie remains focused on justice. “If I could speak to the president or the attorney general, I would tell them to ensure these officers are arrested and prosecuted, return everything they took from my house, and tell us what happened to my husband. If they killed him, let them say it. If not, let them produce him,” she said.
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