Ezu River Police SARS Killings report exposes shocking atrocities, linking Anambra Police SARS to torture and extrajudicial executions in Nigeria
Ezu River Police SARS Killings have resurfaced in national and global attention following a damning report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (INTERSOCIETY).
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Released on Friday in Awka, Anambra State, the findings accuse the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of carrying out extrajudicial killings and dumping at least 35 corpses into the Ezu River in 2013.
The report, titled “The Untold Story Of Ezu River Police SARS Killings”, indicts SARS operatives for what it describes as systematic torture, custodial abuse, and killings masquerading as crime-fighting.
INTERSOCIETY said it revisited the matter because of the “increasing, shocking, saddening, and alarming rate of torture and killing” by the Anambra Police SARS.
Chairman of INTERSOCIETY’s Board of Trustees, Emeka Umeagbalasi, condemned the use of torture and extrajudicial force, calling the practices “a theatre of butchery” where detainees are “butchered like animals.”
The rights group stressed that instead of reducing crime through lawful means, SARS operatives had become “deadlier and more menacing.”
It described the killings at SARS headquarters in Awkuzu as “geometrical,” insisting the atrocities demand urgent attention from international organizations including the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the World Organization Against Torture.
The original discovery of 35 corpses floating on Ezu River on January 19, 2013, at the border of Anambra and Enugu States, shocked Nigerians and the international community. Despite calls for justice, accountability has remained elusive.
When contacted, Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Umar Garba, declined comment, saying he was newly posted to the state.
The report serves as a painful reminder of unchecked police brutality and the urgent need for reforms.
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INTERSOCIETY concluded by urging authorities and the global community to act before more lives are lost in what it calls “raging and untamed unlicensed butcheries.”
