LAGOS — It has been over six agonising years since Afamefuna Ozoemena, a young Anambra State indigene, left home for his daily job and mysteriously vanished into the notoriously opaque and unforgiving labyrinth of the Nigerian criminal justice system. Taken into police custody at just twenty-nine years old, Ozoemena, affectionately known to his loved ones as Afam, remains entirely unaccounted for by state authorities. His prolonged, unexplained disappearance has left his desperate family trapped in a relentless nightmare of bureaucratic stonewalling and institutional silence.
The harrowing saga initially began on May 19, 2019, following a seemingly routine workplace dispute at the bustling New Bandalas Plaza in Balogun Market. Afam had experienced a bitter fallout with his employer, Edwin Ihechukwulu Igbokwulu, regarding unpaid wages. Although Igbokwulu has consistently denied any involvement in his employee’s subsequent disappearance, Afam was questionably singled out and abruptly arrested by roaming police officers at the Trade Fair axis.
Based on accounts from Afam’s coworkers, Igbokwulu allegedly engages in occult rituals and was heard on several occasions vowing to “arrest and vanish” Afam for daring to defy him
Ekpo’s audio Interview with Ujunwa Joseph
What immediately followed was a desperate, humiliating, multi-year odyssey spearheaded by his resilient niece, Ujunwa Olivia Joseph, and his devoted uncle, Michael Ozoemena. Tracking his erratic movements through the city’s detention centers, the family traced Afam from the Trade Fair Police Station to the Agboju Station. There, they were directed to an officer identified only as Inspector Toba. The frustrating trail eventually led them to the Oshodi Task Force. At this facility, officers offered absolutely no formal charges and zero concrete information regarding his detention, despite deploying coercive tactics to extort money from Afam’s uncle in exchange for supposedly valuable information about his whereabouts.
A fleeting glimmer of hope unexpectedly emerged in early 2024 when Sunday Alulu, a former inmate recently released from the Badagry Prison, informed the family that he had actually seen Afam behind bars. According to Alulu, fellow inmates knew the missing man by the nickname Ganja. Armed with this critical tip, the family visited the Badagry Prison on April 21, 2024, and subsequently the Kirikiri Maximum Prison. Tragically, they were met with blank faces, outright denial, and frustrating administrative dead ends at every gate.
Recent Developments and Official Inaction
Despite mounting public pressure, the whereabouts of the now thirty-five-year-old remain completely unknown. An investigative follow-up in January 2025 revealed that the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) escalated the matter to multiple elite police formations, including the Police Complaints Response Unit (CRU), the Force Investigation Bureau (FIB), and the National Cybercrime Centre (NCCC).
Force Public Relations Officer Muyiwa Adejobi clarified that while a policeman headed the Oshodi Task Force, the outfit ultimately fell under the Lagos State Government’s direct control. Acting on this jurisdictional clarification, the CRU filed a formal report with the office of the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Adegoke Fayoade. The State Command reportedly launched an internal investigation into the circumstances surrounding Afam’s May 2019 arrest.
Yet, as of early 2025, there has been absolutely no tangible progress or official communication regarding the probe. Six years, numerous formal petitions, and countless prison visits later, the police are still completely unable to account for the man they illegally took into custody. For the Ozoemena family, the void left by Afam’s disappearance remains an open wound demanding urgent closure and immediate justice from the Nigerian authorities.
SOURCE: Unyfac/ Ekpo , Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ)
IMAGE: Ozoemena Family
