Woman seeks IGP Egbetokun's imprisonment over husband's police abduction, disappearance case

Nnenna Anozie, wife of John Anozie, who was abducted by operatives of the now-defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in June 2017, has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to imprison the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, for alleged contempt.

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Mrs Anozie, who made the request in a motion filed on 11 December 2025, accused Mr Egbetokun of disobeying a September 2025 court judgement ordering the production of the officers involved in her husband’s abduction and disappearance.

The judgement, delivered on 24 September 2024 by Federal High Court judge Binta Nyako in Abuja, also ordered the release of the investigation files on the police officers implicated in the abduction and awarded N2 million in damages against the police.

All of these orders were ignored by the police, Mrs Anozie said in her motion, and called for the imprisonment of the IGP, who was a party to the case leading to the judgement and head of the police force.

PREMIUM TIMES, in a detailed report on the case, chronicled a long history of police disobedience to court orders and directives of the panels of enquiry following the arrest of Mr Anozie by the police and his subsequent disappearance.

The officers implicated in the case are Anthony Obiozor Ikechukwu, an assistant superintendent of police; Uzochukwu Emeana, sergeant, John Eze, Oriole, also known as T Boy, and Sunday Okpe, a superintendent of police.

Mrs Anozie said the police officers, who were officers of the defunct SARS in Awkuzu, Anambra State, travelled to “abduct” her husband at his home in Lekki, Lagos State, in June 2017.

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The victim has not been seen since then as he was neither charged nor produced before any court, despite several court orders directing the police to do so.

Battle to get justice

During one of the court proceedings initiated by Mrs Anozie, the police told the court that Mr Anozie had died in custody, yet failed to comply with another order requiring them to produce his body or explain the circumstances of his death.

Mrs Anozie subsequently petitioned the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), wrote to police authorities and appeared before the #EndSARS judicial panel in Abuja, but no remedy came as none of the culpable police officers was held accountable.

On 24 September last year, Mrs Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja delivered judgement in a freedom of information action filed by Mrs Anozie against the police.

The judge ordered the IGP to release the officers implicated in the case for prosecution, provide all related files, and awarded N2 million in damages against the police.

The judgement asked the police to carry out the orders within seven days from when they were issued.

But weeks went by without the police complying with the judgement.

Aftermath of police disobedience

So, in October 2025, Mrs Anozie, through her lawyer, Vincent Adodo, commenced contempt proceedings against the IGP, with issuance of Form 48 (Notice of Consequences of Disobedience to Court Order). Form 48 essentially warns an alleged contemnor to comply with a court judgement or face the consequences of disobedience.

When the police failed to act, Mrs Anozie followed the Form 48 with Form 49 (Notice of Committal to Correctional Centre), which sets the stage for alleged contemnors to convince the judge why they should not be jailed for disobeying an order of court.

An affidavit in support of the motion filed by Mrs Anoze’s lawyers in December, said the IGP took no action to comply with the court judgment in question despite being served with both Form 48 and Form 49.

The motion sought an order committing the IGP to Kuje prison in Abuja for contempt “until he purges himself of the contempt/disobedience of the order of this honourable court.”

The court has fixed the hearing of the motion for 9 February.