One of the deepest fears a civilian can live with is not just the threat of crime or conflict — it is the fear that the very institutions me...
One of the deepest fears a civilian can live with is not just the threat of crime or conflict — it is the fear that the very institutions meant to protect life may instead become instruments of death, disappearance, or unaccountable violence.
Across Nigeria’s recent history, allegations of extrajudicial killings have remained among the most painful and persistent human rights issues. In many communities, particularly in the Southeast and other conflict-affected regions, families still recount loved ones who left home but never returned after security raids, checkpoint encounters, arrests, or violent crackdowns.
The trauma often begins with agonizing uncertainty:
A son taken during a raid.
A young man stopped at a checkpoint, who vanishes.
Gunshots heard during a protest.
Hours later, families begin the desperate search — hospitals, police stations, detention centers, and morgues — often without answers. Some are forced to identify bodies with no explanation of what happened. Others never find their relatives at all.
The human cost runs deep:
Mothers wait endlessly at their gates for children who will never return.
Children grow up without fathers whose deaths were never investigated.
Wives become widows overnight, denied truth, justice, or even basic acknowledgement. This fear has reshaped daily life in many communities. Young people dread checkpoints. Families panic when relatives go silent during security operations. Residents avoid large gatherings, fearing escalation. Ordinary activities are now weighed against the risk of violence.
Beyond the loss of life, extrajudicial killings erode public trust in the very institutions tasked with protecting citizens. When people begin to fear those who swore to safeguard them, society faces a profound psychological and moral crisis. Human rights groups have consistently documented allegations of unlawful detention, enforced disappearances, torture, excessive force, and killings linked to security operations across different parts of the country.
At the core of this issue is accountability. For grieving families, the pain is compounded not only by the death itself, but by the silence that follows — no credible investigation, no transparent process, no closure. In many communities, memorial gatherings now feature photographs of the missing and the unexplained dead. Families still keep clothing, ID cards, and old phone numbers as the last fragile links to loved ones lost years ago, still hoping for the truth.
Extrajudicial killings represent one of the clearest tests of any democracy’s commitment to human rights and the rule of law. A nation cannot build lasting peace on fear, nor can public trust survive where justice is selective or absent. The grieving families across affected communities continue to ask a fundamental question: If a human life can be taken without consequence or accountability, what real protection exists for ordinary citizens?
Written by Anthony Eke
Edited by
Obiageli Mboma
For
Enugwu State Media Team
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