A prominent human rights organisation, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has fiercely condemned the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), and the Imo State Police Command over what it described as the disgraceful and indefensible failure to arrest or prosecute those allegedly behind the assassination attempt on Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere nearly three years after the bloody attack on his family residence in Akokwa, Imo State.
HURIWA declared that the continued failure of security agencies to solve the attack has exposed dangerous cracks within Nigeria’s security and justice system and heightened fears of political interference, institutional compromise, selective law enforcement, and deliberate suppression of politically sensitive crimes.
The rights group said it was outrageous that heavily armed attackers could allegedly invade the residence of a serving federal lawmaker in what was widely believed to be a coordinated assassination mission, unleash terror on the community, kill an innocent family member, destroy properties worth millions of naira, and disappear without a single successful prosecution years later.
According to HURIWA, Hon. Ugochinyere has repeatedly alleged that the attack was not an ordinary criminal incident but a carefully orchestrated political assassination attempt allegedly masterminded by forces threatened by his outspoken political activities, fearless criticisms, and opposition engagements.
The association recalled allegations by the lawmaker that armed assassins stormed his family compound in Akokwa with the clear mission of eliminating him physically but failed after he reportedly escaped the attack.
HURIWA further referenced allegations that the attackers allegedly opened fire indiscriminately within the compound, causing panic and chaos before killing his uncle during the violent operation.
The group also noted allegations that the attackers vandalised and destroyed the lawmaker’s personal vehicle alongside more than 30 other vehicles parked within the compound in what observers described as one of the most brazen politically linked attacks in recent years in Imo State.
According to the association, despite the widespread public outrage generated by the incident and the enormous destruction recorded, security agencies have allegedly failed to identify, arrest, or successfully prosecute either the attackers or their alleged sponsors.
“It is both shocking and scandalous that nearly three years after armed attackers invaded the residence of a serving federal lawmaker, killed his uncle, destroyed over 30 vehicles, and allegedly attempted to assassinate him, Nigerians are yet to witness a single meaningful prosecution,” HURIWA stated.
The organisation warned that the inability or unwillingness of the police to conclusively investigate such a high-profile attack has created the dangerous impression that politically connected criminal actors can perpetrate violence without consequences.
HURIWA also warned the Inspector-General of Police and the Imo State Police Command against actions capable of politicising security operations or undermining public confidence in the neutrality of law enforcement institutions.
The group linked the deteriorating atmosphere of insecurity in Nigeria to concerns raised in a recent report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, which allegedly stated that thousands of armed Fulani militants are operating across Nigeria.
HURIWA therefore demanded the immediate constitution of a special independent investigative panel equipped with advanced forensic and intelligence capabilities to comprehensively reopen and investigate the Akokwa attack.
The association insisted that both the direct perpetrators and alleged sponsors of the assassination attempt must be identified, exposed, and prosecuted without fear or favour.