Madu Charles Chinonso: Robbed at gunpoint, I testified—now they’re hunting me

In July 2021, my beingness changed forever. I was astatine my father’s store successful Kubwa, Abuja, astir 9:00 p.m., erstwhile astir six equipped men attacked and violently robbed us. They were aggressive, dangerous, and I genuinely feared they would termination us. I was contiguous for the full ordeal and was capable to intelligibly place immoderate of their faces.

Like galore Nigerians, I grew up believing that if you bash the close thing—if you cooperate with the police, springiness a statement, and attest successful court—the strategy volition support you. So I did precisely that. I gave a ceremonial connection and aboriginal testified against the perpetrators, contempt the superior idiosyncratic risk. I acted successful bully faith, trusting that justness would beryllium served and that my practice would guarantee my safety.

But I was wrong. And my communicative is simply a informing astir what happens erstwhile the authorities fails the precise citizens who hazard everything to uphold the law.

During the trial, I began receiving nonstop threats from chartless individuals informing maine to retreat my testimony. These threats were explicit, intimidating, and persistent. They made it wide that my beingness was successful information if I continued to cooperate. Despite the fearfulness and intelligence pressure, I chose to proceed due to the fact that I believed successful justness and trusted that the authorities would support me.

The men were yet convicted. But past I discovered that immoderate members of the radical had been released. That improvement caused contiguous and overwhelming fearfulness for my sa...