Human rights lawyer Ifeanyi Ejiofor has called for an independent and transparent investigation into a police shooting at the Ogbo-Ogwu Headbridge Market in Onitsha, Anambra State, after officers allegedly opened fire on traders during an attempted arrest, sparking protests that paralysed traffic on a major expressway.
The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon at the River Niger Head Bridge in Onitsha, when police operatives shot two traders at the bridge head market, prompting traders to stage a protest along the road that disrupted both human and vehicular traffic in the area. The shooting reportedly caused a blockade of the Onitsha end of the Onitsha-Asaba-Enugu Expressway, disrupting vehicular movement between Onitsha and Asaba for several hours.
Accounts of exactly how the shooting unfolded differ slightly across reports, though most converge on a similar sequence. One of the victims, an apprentice at the Ogbo Ogwu Bridge Market, was said to have been approached by officers while carrying cartons of pharmaceutical products to a vehicle waiting to convey the goods to a customer. Police allegedly demanded to know the contents of the cartons, and when the trader declined to respond and attempted to flee, officers gave chase and opened fire. A separate account attributed the confrontation to a dispute over an alleged N5,000 bribe demand, saying a scuffle broke out before the officer allegedly shot at the trader, after which the policeman involved reportedly fled the scene.
Anambra State Police Command spokespersons have characterised the incident as resulting from suspects resisting arrest, while lawyer Ejiofor and market traders have disputed that framing, describing the victims as unarmed civilians targeted by excessive force.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Ejiofor demanded the immediate prosecution of police officers allegedly involved in the shooting, calling for an independent and transparent investigation to establish those responsible for the reported deaths and injuries, and condemning what he described as the use of lethal force against unarmed civilians. He insisted that any officer found to have acted unlawfully must face the full weight of the law.
Ejiofor also called on Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu and the Anambra State Commissioner of Police to identify every officer who discharged a firearm or otherwise participated in any unlawful conduct, establish the circumstances of the shooting, and ensure that, where culpability is established, the law takes its full and uncompromising course. He questioned why an unarmed trader would be shot at in the first place.
The lawyer further alleged that accounts from traders indicated that some police personnel regularly operate within the market under circumstances suggesting a pattern of harassment. He specifically alleged that police personnel routinely harass traders at the popular pharmaceutical market, making arrests and demanding gratification
Reports have varied on the precise number and severity of casualties. One account described the incident as leaving two traders injured, which subsequently sparked a protest. Police confirmed that the two victims sustained gunshot injuries to their legs. Ejiofor’s own statement, however, referenced “the reported deaths and injuries” and “unarmed protesters,” language that suggests a more severe toll than the injury-only accounts given by police and some other outlets. As of this report, no single, official casualty figure had been confirmed by the Anambra State Police Command.
The Commissioner of Police for Anambra State Command, CP Nnanna Oji Ama, has ordered a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding the shooting of the two traders by policemen attached to the Bridge Head Police Division in Onitsha. The newly posted commissioner mobilised to the scene shortly after the incident, where he addressed aggrieved traders directly.
The Anambra State Police Command has since summoned the Area Commander and all Divisional Police Officers serving within Onitsha for a high-level supervisory meeting following the shooting, as part of the command’s response to the incident.
Wednesday’s shooting adds to a pattern of tense and, at times, deadly confrontations between security operatives and traders in Onitsha’s markets in recent years. Ejiofor previously condemned a similar incident in September 2025, when operatives of the OCHA Brigade an environmental law enforcement unit established by the Anambra State government reportedly shot and killed a woman and injured several others at the Emeka Offor Plaza area of Onitsha Main Market, with additional traders feared dead in that incident as well.
The recurrence of fatal or near-fatal confrontations between security personnel and traders in Onitsha’s markets has fuelled longstanding concerns among civil society and rights advocates about accountability for the use of force by law enforcement in commercial areas of the state. As of this report, no officer had been publicly named or formally charged in connection with Wednesday’s shooting, and the outcome of the Commissioner’s ordered investigation remained pending.
