PRESS STATEMENT
August 25, 2025
BLOOD CRIES FROM TIGER BASE: JUSTICE FOR JAPHET NJOKU MUST NOT BE BURIED IN POLICE CONSPIRACY
The Centre for Human Rights Advocacy and Wholesome Society (CEHRAWS) join voices with the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) and the bereaved family of late Japhet Njoku, a citizen tortured to death in Tiger Base custody, Owerri, in May 2025. His blood, like that of Abel, still cries out from the ground (Genesis 4:10), and Nigeria cannot afford to look away.
This case is no longer merely about one man’s tragic death; it is about whether the Nigeria Police Force in Imo State will continue to ridicule the courts, mock the sanctity of human life, and make justice an orphan in our land.
On May 5, 2025, Japhet Njoku died in Tiger Base custody after weeks of torture, extortion, and unlawful detention, based on a spurious petition allegedly stage-managed by one Mrs. Oluchi Obiagwu and her collaborators in uniform.
Rather than heed the order of the Honourable Court of 5th June 2025 directing a Coroner’s Inquest into his death, the prime suspects (Insp. Barnabas, Mrs. Obiagwu, and her policewoman sister) have chosen a path of obstruction, weaving false allegations of “receiving stolen goods” against Japhet’s case-mates and witnesses, in a desperate bid to intimidate, silence, and erase the truth.
This is nothing short of contempt of court, obstruction of justice, and abetment of extra-judicial killing, acts clearly criminalised under the Criminal Code Act, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, and contrary to Section 33 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which guarantees every citizen the right to life, and Section 34, which protects the dignity of the human person from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment.
As Prof. Ben Nwabueze once said, “The Rule of Law is the very condition of civilized existence.” Yet what we are witnessing is not rule of law but rule of impunity, where officers sworn to protect life and property now conspire to bury both truth and justice.
How can the police, whose motto is “The Police is Your Friend,” justify detaining witnesses whom a court has expressly ordered to testify before a Coroner’s Inquest? How can justice breathe where witnesses are hounded, threatened, and criminalised for daring to speak?
The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Cap A9 LFN 2004, to which Nigeria is a signatory, affirms the right of all persons to justice, fair hearing, and protection from arbitrary action. To deny Japhet justice is to deny the humanity of us all.
History teaches that nations fall not because of the violence of a few, but the silence of many. As Martin Luther King Jr. warned, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The police cannot silence witnesses and expect the truth to die with Japhet. The conscience of Nigeria, and the judgment of God, will not permit it.
CEHRAWS therefore demands, in alignment with the prayers already placed before the Commissioner of Police, Imo State, that:
✓ The suspects (Insp. Barnabas, Mrs. Obiagwu, her policewoman sister, and all collaborators) be called to order and made to obey the subsisting court directives.
✓ The harassment, intimidation, and arraignment threats against Japhet’s case-mates/witnesses be halted immediately.
✓ The Coroner’s Inquest proceed without interference, as ordered by the Honourable Court on 5th June 2025.
✓ A credible and transparent investigation into Japhet’s torture and death be concluded, with those responsible prosecuted without delay.
✓ The Nigeria Police Force in Imo State restore public confidence by showing that no officer is above the law.
The Book of Proverbs reminds us: “He that justifies the wicked, and he that condemns the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs 17:15). The attempt to justify Japhet’s murderers by fabricating charges against innocent witnesses is an abomination before God, the law, and the people.
Justice delayed is justice denied, but justice denied is democracy destroyed. The police must choose whether they will stand on the side of law and justice, or continue to mock the courts and trample on the blood of innocents.
CEHRAWS will not relent until the truth is spoken, and justice for Japhet Njoku is done.
Signed,
Okoye, Chuka Peter
Executive Director, CEHRAWS
cehraws@gmail.com | +234(0)803-552-9865.
