On Friday, May 1, 2026 thousands of youths of Mgbakwu community in Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State took to the streets in against alleged killing of a young man, Chinyeka Ike, popularly known as Akidi.
According to reports, the man was said to have been allegedly killed on Thursday by an operative of Udogachi, the state owned vigilante security outfit.
WITHIN NIGERIA findings showed that though it was not yet clear how the man died, some people in the community said he was standing by the roadside having a discussion with his wife when a bullet accidentally discharged from the gun of one of the operatives who was close by, hit him, killing him instantly.
However, angered by this criminal recklessness, youths in Mgbakwu community on Friday staged a protest, describing the killing of Akidi as one death too many.
According to these youths, a year before a youth from the same was also killed by “a stray bullet” from the gun of an operative from same outfit.
The protesters were seen chanting songs in protest over the killing of their youths, calling on the state government to restrain operatives.
Killing of Mene Ogidi
This is happening barely two after a police man allegedly shots a 28-year man dead in Effurun, Delta.
Recall that on 26 April 2026, Mene Ogidi, a 28-year-old man, was extrajudicially killed after being restrained to the ground and shot at close-range by Nuhu Usman, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP).
According to reports, Mene was delivering a waybill package for a customer, which allegedly contained a Beretta pistol and four rounds of ammunition, when he was stopped and searched by Nuhu.
It was gathered that the police officer seized the package, while the suspect was accused of possession of a weapon.
He was then restrained and tied to the ground. Throwing caution to the dogs, Nuhu proceeded to load a shotgun while a restrained Mene pleaded for his life and offered to take the police to where he picked up the package.
Nuhu then shot and killed Mene at point-blank range in a broad day light.
Our reporter gathered that two days later, a video of the incident was posted on social media where bystanders recorded the encounter, sparking controversy towards the Delta State Police Command in Nigeria.
On 28 April 2026, Nuhu was arrested and transferred to Force Headquarters in Abuja for a disciplinary action.
However, following this development, Nuhu was subsequently dismissed from service.
He is currently under detention and awaiting prosecution for the alleged killing of Mene Ogidi.
As gathered by our reporter, what made the Delta killing particularly jarring was not just the act itself, but its visibility and wanton impunity of the police officer involved.
The victim was subdued. He posed no possible threat. Yet, he was executed in broad daylight.
For many Nigerians, the footage reopened the yet unresolved trauma from the #EndSARS protests, which was a nationwide uprising that forced the government to confront police brutality.
Police killing of Nwanchor Uwaezuruike in Ebonyi state
On January 30, 2026, the Ebonyi State Police Command has confirmed the detention of its officers over the alleged shooting and killing of a motorcycle rider in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital.
The command also said it had commenced a comprehensive investigation into the fatal shooting, which occurred on January 27, 2026, at about 10:30 p.m. around Hariz Filling Station along the ever-busy Abakaliki–Enugu highway.
It could be recalled that on January 27, 2026, operatives of the command attached to the Central Police Station, Abakaliki, were on routine patrol around the Spera-in-Deo Flyover when they responded to a distress call, during which one of the officers allegedly fired a shot into the air.
Unfortunately, the bullet struck a motorcycle rider, identified as Nwanchor Uwaezuruike.
WITHIN NIGERIA gathered that though he was immediately rushed to a hospital for medical attention, but was later confirmed dead.
This was contained in a statement issued by the command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Joshua Ukandu, and made available to journalists in Abakaliki.
The statement noted that the officers involved had been taken into custody.
It added that the Commissioner of Police, Ebonyi State Command, had directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department to conduct a thorough, impartial and professional investigation to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incident.
According to the statement, the commissioner also expressed heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased and assured them, as well as the general public, that justice would be served.
Extrajudicial killing of law student in Kogi state
On January 30, 2026, men of a local vigilante group attached to Nana College of Health, Okpo, in Olamaboro Local Government Area of Kogi State, allegedly killed a 400-level student of Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba.
It was gathered that the deceased who was said to be mentally unstable met his untimely death after he strayed into the school premises.
WITHIN NIGERIA findings showed that the security operatives were said to have tortured and shot dead Andrew Amehson Aziko, a final-year student of the varsity despite the fact that they knew him by name.
According to an eyewutness, that was the second alleged extrajudicial killing in the council area in two months.
The incident, which reportedly occurred at Nana College of Health, Ibana Okpo, was first brought to public attention by Danjuma Onoja, former Secretary of Olamaboro LGA, on April 28, 2026.
According to the local government scribe, “in the early hours of today, Tuesday, 28 April 2026, a life was taken wrongly at Nana College of Health, Ibana Okpo. I call on the Chairman of the Local Government to please investigate this matter thoroughly so that the perpetrators of this act are brought to book.”
Footage of the incident, also circulated in a post by Abubakar Ibrahim Idoko, shows Andrew being beaten with batons several times by the school’s security guards before he was allegedly shot multiple times in the head, abdomen, and back.
His remains have since been deposited in the morgue, pending formal identification and verification.
In the video, Andrew is heard pleading in Igala, telling the security guards to “touch his hand” before they act. It is evident from the exchange that the operatives knew and recognised him. He even called one of them by name. When asked who sent him, he replied, “My father.”
One security guard retorted, “You are lying because your father is late,” suggesting he was a known face in the community.
It was also gathered that Andrew’s father, until his death, was a well-known socialite and former lecturer at Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba.
Preliminary accounts indicate that the deceased was a final-year student on the Anyigba campus of the university.
Again on April 25, 2026, a serving corps member, Abdulsamad Jamiu, was shot and killed in his room by suspected soldiers. The soldiers were allegedly from the Guards Brigade Quick Response Force in Dei-Dei, Shagari Estate, Abuja.
The Guards Brigade headquarters, in a statement, explained that Jamiu was caught in a crossfire on April 25 when troops responded to a distress call from residents reportedly under attack by armed robbers. But the deceased’s family rejected the military’s account of the incident.
About two months ago, a labourer, Oluwaseyi Adeoye, who worked with the Ogun State Government, was allegedly shot dead by a military operative during a demolition exercise at a company around Orile-Imo, along the Sagamu-Abeokuta Expressway in the Obafemi/Owode Local Government Area of the state.
He was part of a team from the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development assigned to pull down illegal structures in the area.
The state town planning enforcement team was reportedly at the company to enforce building regulations concerning the acceptable height of the company’s fence when the incident occurred.
Recall also that on January 1, 2026, a 13-year-old boy, Timothy Daniel, was allegedly shot in the head by a soldier attached to a company in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. The boy was said to have confronted the solder after the latter allegedly made sexual advances to his 15-year-old elder sister, Miracle Daniel.
A source said Timothy and his sister were returning from Mount Zion Full Gospel Church along the Akongntekong Road, Ete community when the incident occurred.
Nevertheless, the number of Nigerians that have lost their life to extrajudicial killings by security operatives are countless.
Reactions trail the recurring incidents
Barr. Daniel Ogbe is an Enugu-based legal practitioner.
In a chat with WITHIN NIGERIA reporter, he stressed the situation is quite worrisome.
“The extrajudicial killing of Nigerians by some officers and men of Nigeria Police Force is worrisome.
“There areany numerous instances in which Nigerians are made to pay the supreme price without due process of law being observed.
“The right to life is constitutionally guaranteed right in Section 32(1) under Nigerian constitution.”
Explaining further, Ogbe, the gubernatorial candidate of Action Alliance (AA) party in the 2023 general elections said “it is an aberration that Nigeria Police which is an institution that is ordinarily saddled with the responsibility of protecting the life and property of Nigeria people is now the institution that some of officers and personnel now pose as a threat.
“I think what is driving this illegal line of action is the absence of accountability on the part of the state. You discover that the Nigeria Police, the operation of Nigeria Police is programmed to toe the similar line of action or practice during the colonial era.
“During the colonial era, the police was established as an instrument of suppression and subjugation. At the independence, the practice continued unabated.”
Barr. Nzewi, an Abuja-based legal practitioner. He told our reporter that Nigerian constitution recognizes right to life until law says otherwise.
“The law wrote so much about this. There are many provisions that gives someone right to life until the court states otherwise
“Only the court of law has power to deprived someone of right to life only upon beyond reasonable doubt is proven that such a person is not supposed to be living due to capital offence committed by such person
“But in Nigeria, it is clear the laws are just academic. Pure Academic.”
Right Groups react to the killings
Investigation revealed that between 2020 and 2026, conservative estimates that at least 900 Nigerians were killed in extra-judicial circumstances.
But human rights groups, in their various reports, insisted that the true figure could be as high as 3,000. They pointed to widespread underreporting, as well as alleged secret executions in detention facilities, and a persistent culture of impunity within law enforcement agencies.
However, according to a report published on the website of the Voice of Nigeria (VON) in October 2023 stated that Nigeria recorded over 800 extra-judicial executions in 2020, 2021, 2022, as well as January to June 2023, making a period of three and half years.
The report added that a total of 127 cases were reported in the first half of 2023 alone. In the partial breakdown of the figures, the study stated that 271 cases of extra-judicial killings were recorded in 2020, while the number was 253 in 2022.
