A human rights lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has asked the Nigerian government and Swiss authorities to probe the alleged killing of Michael Ekemezie, a 39-year-old Nigerian man in Switzerland.
PREMIUM TIMES obtained a video clip showing a man said to be Mr Ekemezie being pinned to the ground allegedly by a Swiss police officer.
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Mr Ejiofor, in a petition to the Nigerian government, alleged that Mr Ekemezie died on 25 May after he was subjected to “brutal and excessive force” in Lausanne, Switzerland, by the Swiss police.
The lawyer also copied the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission and other government agencies in the petition dated 30 May 2025.
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“He (Ekemezie) was the principal breadwinner of his family and is survived by a young wife, two infant children – a two-year-old son and a three-month-old daughter, as well as four brothers and three sisters, all of whom were dependent on him,” he said in the petition obtained by PREMIUM TIMES.
Mr Ejiofor, in a statement on Friday, said the killing of Mr Ekemezie, an indigene of Anambra State, bears chilling similarities to the infamous murder of George Floyd in the United States, five years ago.
Mr Floyd, a black American, was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in the United States on 25 May 2020, which triggered a global wave of activism spread to more than 50 countries, including Nigeria and 16 other African countries.
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The lawyer said it is painful that, unlike the case of Mr Floyd, “deafening silence” has followed Mr Ekemezie’s “brutal killing”.
“This silence is both unacceptable and deeply troubling, especially as it suggests a deliberate effort to downplay or conceal the brutal nature of the killing.
“It further suggests that Michael’s life, like those of many Africans, can be taken without consequence or even acknowledgement,” he said.
Like Nigeria, like Swiss authorities
Mr Ejiofor stressed that it was improper that Swiss authorities had remained silent even as Nigerians and other Africans residing in Switzerland protested Mr Ekemezie’s alleged killing.
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“Swiss authorities’ response thus far has failed to meet the minimum threshold of transparency and urgency required in such egregious cases of state-sanctioned violence,” he said.
“As we mourn the painful loss of Mr. Michael Kenechukwu Ekemezie, we reiterate our unwavering commitment to pursuing justice through all lawful and diplomatic means, for him, for his family, and for all those whose lives have been marked by violence and silence.”
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