JUSTICE FOR ALEX
21ST JANUARY 2026
PRESS STATEMENT
The state murdered Alex Ogbu. Six Years of Impunity Is State Policy
Six years after the Nigerian state murdered journalist Alex Ogbu, there has been no justice, no accountability, and no remorse. What we have instead is the open, shameless protection of killers in uniform and the deliberate humiliation of a grieving family. This is not failure. This is how the system works.
Alex Ogbu was gunned down by the Nigerian Police Force while covering a protest. His crime was journalism. His execution was a message: the state reserves the right to kill, and it will not be questioned.
A court of law, one of the few remaining instruments of formal justice, ruled in June 2023 that the killing was unlawful and ordered the Police to pay ₦50 million to the Ogbu’s family. The Police have refused to comply. Almost three years later, the judgment lies ignored, disrespected, and trampled upon.
In a landmark judgment, a competent court ordered the Nigeria Police Force to pay ₦50 million in compensation to the family of Alex Ogbu for his unlawful killing. Shockingly, and in blatant contempt of court, the Police have refused to obey this lawful order, further traumatizing the victim’s family and eroding public confidence in the justice system.
Six years ago, the Nigerian state executed journalist Alex Ogbu in broad daylight. Six years later, the same state protects the killers, defies its own courts, and spits on the idea of justice. Let us be clear: this is not a broken system this is a system doing exactly what it was built to do.
Alex Ogbu was not killed by a “rogue officer.” He was killed by a repressive state apparatus whose police exist to crush dissent, intimidate the poor, and silence those who document the truth.
Alex Ogbu was not a criminal. He was a journalist carrying out his professional duty to inform the public. His killing was an attack on press freedom, democratic rights, and the fundamental right to life guaranteed under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The refusal of the Nigerian Police to comply with a court judgment is not only illegal, but also dangerous. It sends a clear message that state institutions can operate above the law, even when courts have spoken. This sets a very troubling precedent for democracy, accountability, and human rights in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Police Force is not law enforcement it is organized coercion. It enforces hunger wages, protects stolen wealth, suppresses protest, and murders journalists who expose the contradictions of this rotten order. Court judgments are ignored because courts themselves are tolerated only as long as they do not threaten power.
The same state that claims poverty when ordered to compensate a murdered journalist somehow always has money for weapons, surveillance, and repression. This is class war, waged from above.
Alex Ogbu’s blood joins a long list: protesters, workers, students, journalists — all sacrificed to preserve a violent status quo. His family’s suffering is not accidental; it is part of a strategy of exhaustion, meant to teach the people that resistance is costly and justice is impossible.
Our demands are simple, but our understanding is clear:
1. Immediate payment of the ₦50 million owed to the family of Alex Ogbu — stolen justice must be returned.
2. Public prosecution and punishment of those who carried out and covered up his murder.
3. An end to the militarized policing of protest and the routine killing of civilians.
4. Collective resistance to state violence, impunity, and repression.
Six years after Alex Ogbu’s execution, one truth remains: justice will never be handed down by the same system that pulls the trigger. Justice is won when people organize, resist, and refuse to be ruled by fear.
We reaffirm our solidarity with the Ogbu family and all journalists facing intimidation and violence in the line of duty. Until justice is done, the struggle continues.
Justice for Alex Ogbu.
The struggle continues.
Signed,
Justice for Alex Ogbu Campaign
Comrade Dimeji Macaulay Comrade Gerald Katchy
Co-Coordinator Co-Coordinator
