Science for Human Rights
Oliver Igwe
At around midnight on 4 August 2010, two unidentified men entered Oliver Igwe’s home in Imo State, southern Nigeria. They blindfolded the elderly man and attacked him with stones, causing extensive injuries to his face and head. Oliver Igwe had to have his eye removed by doctors on 11 August, and is recovering in hospital. Their home was ransacked and valuables were stolen. The police have refused to investigate the incident, which is believed to be linked to the Igwe family’s campaign for justice for a rape survivor.
Since January 2007, the Igwe family have been campaigning for access to justice for a girl who was raped in 2006, when she was 10 years old. Since 2007, Oliver Igwe, the 77-year old father of Nigerian human rights defender Leo Igwe, has been invited or arrested, detained and interviewed at least nine times at three different police stations. The Igwe family and the girl's family have been repeatedly invited to visit police stations, where they were often detained for several hours. The Igwe family say that since 2007 they have paid the police over 100,000 Naira (equivalent to US$664), for ‘bail’. However, bail in Nigeria is paid to the courts, not to the police.
Location on map is approximate.
Oliver Igwe
At around midnight on 4 August 2010, two unidentified men entered Oliver Igwe’s home in Imo State, southern Nigeria. They blindfolded the elderly man and attacked him with stones, causing extensive injuries to his face and head. Oliver Igwe had to have his eye removed by doctors on 11 August, and is recovering in hospital. Their home was ransacked and valuables were stolen. The police have refused to investigate the incident, which is believed to be linked to the Igwe family’s campaign for justice for a rape survivor.
Since January 2007, the Igwe family have been campaigning for access to justice for a girl who was raped in 2006, when she was 10 years old. Since 2007, Oliver Igwe, the 77-year old father of Nigerian human rights defender Leo Igwe, has been invited or arrested, detained and interviewed at least nine times at three different police stations. The Igwe family and the girl's family have been repeatedly invited to visit police stations, where they were often detained for several hours. The Igwe family say that since 2007 they have paid the police over 100,000 Naira (equivalent to US$664), for ‘bail’. However, bail in Nigeria is paid to the courts, not to the police.
Location on map is approximate.