After Nine Years, Police Case File on Missing Businessman Sent to Attorney General

Nine years after Johm Anozie was reportedly taken by police, the Inspector General of Police, Tunji Disu, has sent the case file to the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi. This move follows a court order.

Judge Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja had ruled in September 2025 that the IGP must release the case file to Nnenna Anozie, the wife of the missing businessman, Mr Anozie.

For about 10 months, police authorities ignored this judgment. Mrs Anozie, through her lawyer, Vincent Adodo, took legal action against the then-IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, for not obeying the court’s ruling.

This recent update comes after the last court hearing on July 13. During this session, Judge Binta Nyako expressed relief that the long-missing case file had finally been located. "At least something is happening," she said after Mrs Anozie’s lawyer informed the court about the police finding the file. He also pointed out that he still did not understand why the police had not sent the file to the AGF.

Earlier that day, before the lawyer gave the update, Judge Nyako mentioned she might pass the contempt proceedings to another judge because she felt "so involved" in the case. But now that the police have sent the case file to the AGF, the judge may reconsider her decision.

A statement from Mrs Anozie’s legal team, led by Mr Adodo, noted that “the court drew the applicant’s lawyer’s attention to a Notice of Compliance filed by the IGP’s lawyer, Stanley Nwodo.” The statement added that “the notice informed the court that the case file, which includes the investigation report and legal advice on Mr Anozie’s disappearance, had been sent to the AGF as ordered by the court.”

Mr Adodo said the legal team hopes for full compliance with the remaining orders from the judgment. He highlighted that the outstanding orders include giving a certified true copy of the duplicate case file to Mrs Anozie, arresting the two police officers named as key suspects in her husband’s disappearance, handing them over to the AGF for prosecution, and paying N2 million in damages to Mrs Anozie for not being able to access information.

The Notice of Compliance filed with the Federal High Court on July 22 shows that the IGP, through his lawyer, Mr Nwodo, acknowledged the court’s order. “I hereby forward an acknowledgment of the forwarded case file to the Honourable Attorney General’s office by the Nigeria Police Force as requested by the order of the Court in the suit accordingly,” Mr Nwodo stated in the filing.

Documents reviewed indicate that the original case file sent to the AGF includes the police investigation report, crime diary extracts, minute sheets, the original petition filed by Mrs Anozie, and several witness statements. The file also contains statements from implicated police officers, police wireless messages, investigation records, bail applications, and legal correspondence.

The original case file was first sent by the Commissioner of Police, X-Squad Section of the Force Criminal Investigation Department, to the IGP on June 8, 2020, during Mohammed Adamu's time as IGP. A letter dated July 15 from CP Aremu Silas confirmed that the case file was forwarded to the AGF “for your esteemed Office’s perusal, legal inputs, and possible prosecution.”

The letter mentioned that this action followed Form 48 (Notice to Show Cause why an order to commit the IGP to Prison/Correctional Centre should not be made), received from the Federal High Court Abuja in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/865/2025.

Court records show that the AGF’s office confirmed receipt of the case file on July 20, just days before the police submitted the Notice of Compliance to the Court. A detailed report by PREMIUM TIMES titled ‘Horror of Police Brutality: A Nigerian widow’s pain mirrors victims’ agonies,’ published in January, highlighted Mrs Anozie’s struggle for justice over nine years. This reflects the challenges faced by many Nigerian families whose loved ones went missing after police encounters, long before the #EndSARS protests brought attention to these issues.

The investigation traced how Mr Anozie disappeared in June 2017 after operatives from the now-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) allegedly came from Awkuzu, Anambra State, to arrest him at his home in Lagos. The police later claimed Mr Anozie died in custody but did not show his body despite multiple court orders.

The officers involved in the case include Anthony Obiozor Ikechukwu, an Assistant Superintendent of Police; Uzochukwu Emeana, a sergeant; John Eze, also known as T-Boy; Oriole; and Sunday Okpe, a Superintendent of Police. Some of them have since retired.

Over the years, Mrs Anozie has petitioned the police, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and the #EndSARS Judicial Panel of Inquiry. She has also won judgments from different courts directing the police to show her husband or his body and hold the responsible officers accountable, but the police have not followed any of these orders.

Her latest legal win came on September 24 last year when Judge Nyako ordered the IGP to release the duplicate case file and investigation reports to her, arrest the identified officers, hand them over to the AGF for prosecution, and pay N2 million in damages for violating her right to information.

Despite this, the police did not comply with the judgment, which led Mrs Anozie to start contempt proceedings against the then-IGP, Mr Egbetokun, in December 2025. The contempt proceedings moved slowly, and at one point, the judge warned that she might order the arrest of the police chief if the judgment remained ignored.

The case was further delayed when Mr Egbetokun left office in February and was replaced by Mr Disu, which meant the contempt proceedings continued against the new IGP. When the case returned to court on July 13, Mrs Anozie’s lawyer told the court that the missing case file had finally been found after months of searching.

The Notice of Compliance marks the first official move by the police towards following Judge Nyako’s September 2025 ruling. Members of the Coalition of Civil Societies in Abuja, commonly known as Abuja Left, protested outside the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday. They called on the AGF to prosecute the police officers involved in Mr Anozie’s disappearance.

The protest was led by the coalition’s coordinator, Gerald Kachi, who said the police’s action to send the case file to the AGF should lead to the prosecution of the officers named in the investigation. “Justice delayed for nine years is obviously justice denied, and we cannot accept that,” Mr Kachi said during the protest.

“We are using this opportunity to call on the Attorney General of the Federation to do the needful and help these citizens. We must get justice for Mr Chukwuemeka. Those involved should be prosecuted according to our laws.”

He also urged the police to follow the Federal High Court’s judgment fully by arresting the implicated officers, giving the investigation report to the family, returning the valuables allegedly taken from Mr Anozie, and paying the compensation awarded by the court.

On the same day, the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) stated that this case has become “a test of Nigeria’s commitment to the rule of law and its duty to investigate enforced disappearances and prosecute those responsible for serious human rights violations.”

In a statement, RULAAC’s Executive Director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, urged Mr Fagbemi, the AGF, to ensure “the swift prosecution of police officers indicted in the case.” He recalled that since Mr Anozie’s disappearance, his wife and children have lived with uncertainty and “unimaginable emotional trauma.”

Nwanguma praised Mrs Anozie’s courage and determination, saying her efforts have kept this case alive despite years of delays. RULAAC welcomed the IGP’s decision to send the investigation file, legal advice, and report to the AGF.

But the organization called this move “an important, though long overdue, step” in a case that “symbolizes the tragedy of enforced disappearance, police impunity, and prolonged denial of justice in Nigeria.”

Nwanguma emphasized that sending the investigation file is just one part of the court’s ruling. He urged the AGF to quickly review the investigation report and legal advice from the police, start prosecuting all officers involved, and ensure that no suspect escapes accountability. He also called for the family to be updated on the case’s progress.

He urged the IGP to comply with the remaining court orders by giving Mrs Anozie the Certified True Copy of the duplicate case file, arresting and handing over the implicated officers to the AGF for prosecution, and paying the damages awarded by the court. Nwanguma stated that RULAAC would keep monitoring the case and work with Mrs Anozie, her legal team, and other stakeholders until it reaches a proper conclusion.