Actor Richard Mofe Damijo has reacted to the killing of 16-year-old Tina Ezekwu by the police and 22-year-old Uwaila Omozuwa by a rapist who murdered her in her local church in Benin, Edo State.
RMD stated that events has shown that the black child is not safe anywhere in the world as a choice of piercing, tattoo and haircut can put the person in harm’s way.
He demands ‘demand a meaningful reform of the entire police force and stiffer laws for law enforcement agents who take innocent lives’.
He said, “I have written and deleted quite a bit in the past few days. I was devastated, broken and speechless when I heard about the death of TINA EZEKWU, the teenage girl senselessly gunned down in broad daylight, by trigger happy, blood hungry policemen, paid by you and I to protect us. It’s hard to breathe. The news had me dealing with different kinds and levels of negative emotions.
As a father, with kids within the same age range as the now deceased TINA, it killed a part of me and brought to fore, the realities of our present day predicament. I am horrified and tormented by the thoughts of what if it happens to me… yeah, God forbid, but, do you think TINA’s parents hoped for this? History has shown that our kids are not safe in America or anywhere else in the world because, even our fellow blacks of African descent kill ours in senseless xenophobic attacks.
So, as black parents, do we move our kids back Here? But are they safe Here? Here, where right to life is an illusion, Here, where justice is often just another word in the dictionary, Here, where trigger happy policemen, confident in the knowledge that they will be protected by the powers that be, play the game of squeeze the trigger at choice, Here, where your young son’s choice of haircut, piercings or tattoos make him target for trigger happy SARS officials who like hungry vultures have zero regard for life. HERE IS NIGERIA!
And just as I am in my quiet corner brooding I learn another young girl UWA OMOZUWA was raped and murdered inside a church where she went to read!!!!!!! Where did TINA go wrong? What did UWA do wrong? NOWHERE and NOTHING! They are just victims of a failed system.
I am tired, lethargic even, I am screaming but have no words, I am crying but have no tears. My heart is racing but my body won’t move.
I am tired of demanding justice for innocent lives lost daily to police brutality only to wake up and do it all over again for another victim.
I demand justice for TINA EZEKWE, I demand justice for UWA OMOZUWA and I demand a meaningful reform of the entire police force and stiffer laws for law enforcement agents who take innocent lives
#justicefortina #justiceforuwa
#reformnigerianpolice”
