Aluu4 victims: From left to right: Lloyd, Tekena, Ugonna and Chiadika as young boys. Writer and artist Ikechukwu Ofili tells you what you didn't know about these 4 friends who lost their lives in the most gruesome manner on October 5th 2012. Read his article after the cut...


Written by Ikechukwu Ofili
On October 2012, I had the privilege to meet with Jane Toku-Mike the mother of Lloyd…just several days after her son had been fatally beaten and torched for a crime that he did not commit. I was nervous about the meeting, I mean what do you tell a mother after losing her son in such a brutal manner? But we spoke and there was one thing she kept saying. And that was that she and all the other parents wanted people to know who their children were, that they were innocent, that they had dreams, that they had aspirations, that they were just like us…you and me.

So last month roughly a year after our first meeting, I asked Jane Toku-Mike if she had pictures of her son that I could use for a project I was working on … you can imagine my surprise when I received not just one but several dozen pictures of Lloyd and the other 3 children. Pictures scanned from a brochure titled Four Friends that was made in honor and remembrance of the aluu4. A brochure filled with never before seen pictures of the children, as babies, in church, in school on visiting day. Just normal everyday pictures with words from family describing their sons.

And I just had to share it, not to stoke another endless debate about the hopelessness of Nigeria or whose fault it was that aluu4 happened. But rather to do something to ensure that the aluu4 victims get justice and to remind the parents that we the people of Nigeria have not forgotten. But more importantly that we will not forget. We will keep fighting for their sons, until they get justice.

And we can fight this fight. All they need from us is to keep their children in the news cycle so that the courts know that we are watching and that we will not be silent if justice is stolen from them.
So feel free to share these pictures, this article, these words, even steal from the article, but get the word out. You can start with publicizing their November 14th court case at High Court 21 in Port Harcourt. If you stay in Port Harcourt, go out there and support, take pictures. Report the news, post it on your blog, ping it, whatsapp it, instagram it, let it spread. Its the little we can do.
Enjoy the below pictures and words from their family. I was moved and I am sure you will too…

Read More.... http://lindaikeji..com/2013/11/aluu4-never-before-seen-pics-of.html

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