RMD mourns Tina Ezekwe, Uwa Omozuwa

Richard Mofe-Damijo RMD

Nollywood actor, Richard Mofe-Damijo, popularly known as RMD, has paid tribute to Tina Ezekwe, the 16-year-old girl who was shot by a policeman in Lagos and Uwaila Omozuwa, the student of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) who was raped and murdered in a church in Benin City, the Edo State Capital.

The 58-year-old shared the tribute on Instagram on Monday.

“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 Ezekwe, the teenage girl senselessly gunned down in broad daylight, by trigger happy, blood hungry policemen, paid by you and I to protect us …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,” he wrote.

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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

A post shared by Richard Mofe-Damijo RMD (@mofedamijo) on

Tina was reportedly hit by a stray bullet from the policeman who was trying to arrest a commercial bus driver for breaking the curfew imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Two policemen identified as Theophilus Otobo, an assistant superintendent of police and Oguntoba Olamigoke, a police inspector attached to Bariga Police Station, have been arrested in connection with Ezekwe’s death.

While the Inspector-General of Police, Muhammadu Adamu, on Monday deployed a “investigation aids and forensic support” to investigate the death of Uwaila,

The incident took place in a Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) where the undergraduate had gone to study.