Nigerian-born lawyer and Minister of Justice and Solicitor General for the Government of Alberta in Canada, Kelechi (Kaycee) Madu, has lamented that Policemen killed his cousin, Chrisantus Nwabueze Korie, in 2013.
Stating that renaming the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) to Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) was not a significant reform, Madu, who is a former Minister of Municipal Affairs for the Province of Alberta, Canada, lamented that there was no probe into the killing despite his petition to the National Assembly.
Madu, who attacked the blood-soaked gory image of his dead cousin to his series of tweets, declared his support for the advocacy against brutality, extortion, and extrajudicial killings by operatives of SARS.
His tweets read: “I support the people of Nigeria as they protest to end police brutality and extrajudicial killings. My own cousin Chrisantus Nwabueze Korie was murdered by Nigerian police in April 2013.
“Despite my best efforts, the police would not investigate his murder and did everything to obstruct. I also helped to petition a Committee of Nigeria’s National Assembly to probe the killing and report back to the House within a timely manner.
“Fundamental human rights like peace, security, and freedom from police brutality are universal. The Nigerian government has an obligation to protect its citizens and deliver substantive police reform.
“Changing the name of SARS and reconstituting it without significant reform won’t be sufficient to satisfy the cry of the Nigerian people for justice.”
A copy of the National Assembly’s resolution on the killing of Okorie showed that he was killed in the Mushin area of Lagos. The National Assembly resolution dated Tuesday, April 16, read in part: “The House notes the extra-judicial killing of Okorie of Umuevu village, Okirika-Nweke Autonomous Community, Ahiau-Mbaise Local Government Area in Imo State by the officer of the Nigeria Police on Thursday 11, April, 2013, in Mushin, Lagos State.
“Worried about the increasing spate of extrajudicial killing in recent times by the Nigeria Police; disturbed that if no decisive action is carried out, more innocent and defenseless Nigerians would continue to lose their lives, resolves to: Mandate the Committee on Police Affairs and Human Rights to probe the killing and report back to the House within two weeks.”
Kelechi Madu made history when he became the first Nigerian-born member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Alberta following elections in 2019. He was the sole candidate of the The United Conservative Party to be elected into the assembly.
Madu graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Lagos. He migrated to Canada in 2005 with his wife when he enrolled in postgraduate studies at the University of Alberta.