The Centre for Human and Socio-Economic Rights (CHSR) has launched a scathing attack on the Nigeria Police Force and the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, accusing both institutions of shielding suspects in the bloody attack at the Owode-Onirin Motor Spare Parts Market in Lagos.
The tragedy, which claimed the lives of seven traders, left several others injured and destroyed about 50 shops and vehicles, has been described by the rights group as “a massacre carried out under the watch of a compromised system.”
In a statement signed by its President, Alex Omotehinse, CHSR alleged that rather than ensure accountability, the police engaged in a cover-up by transferring three officers implicated in the killings to Abuja instead of prosecuting them in Lagos, where the crime took place.
“This transfer is nothing but an orchestrated attempt to shield them from public scrutiny and deny the victims’ families justice,” the group declared, adding that the subsequent orderly room trial which freed the officers on claims of self-defence amounted to “a mockery of justice.”
CHSR further accused the police of collusion in the release of Abiodun (Hakeem) Ariori, a land grabber alleged to have masterminded the violence. According to the group, Ariori’s bail was deliberately left unchallenged by the police, a move it described as evidence of compromise and corruption.
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The organisation also condemned reports that families of the deceased traders were being forced to pay large sums before reclaiming the remains of their loved ones. Omotehinse described the practice as “barbaric, inhuman, and unacceptable.”
Turning its criticism to the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, CHSR expressed outrage at comments credited to the Attorney General, Mr. Lawal Pedro (SAN), who claimed that the violence was not connected to land grabbing. The group described his remarks as “reckless, misleading, and insulting to the dead and their families.”
“The Attorney General’s attempt to downplay the massacre is a calculated effort to exonerate perpetrators by manipulating public narrative,” CHSR stated.
It insisted that the incident has become a litmus test for Nigeria’s justice system, pointing to what it called “state-sanctioned injustice, collaboration between land grabbers and rogue police officers, and a justice ministry that serves the powerful, not the people.”
The group demanded that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu order an independent probe into the killings and the roles played by the police and Lagos Ministry of Justice. It also called for the re-arrest and prosecution of all suspects in Lagos courts, not in Abuja.
CHSR further urged the Inspector-General of Police to end the practice of transferring cases to protect officers from accountability, and pressed the Lagos State Government to immediately release the victims’ bodies to their families without financial exploitation.
The statement appealed to the National Human Rights Commission, the Nigerian Bar Association, and civil society organisations to monitor the case closely and ensure it is not swept under the carpet.
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“The blood of the Owode-Onirin victims cries for justice. Lagos cannot claim to be a centre of excellence while tolerating state-sponsored land grabbing, police killings, and judicial compromise,” CHSR declared.
The group concluded by warning that if the authorities fail to act, it would mobilise both local and international advocacy until justice is served, stressing: “Justice delayed is justice denied. Justice denied is democracy betrayed.”
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