Several disturbing instances have emerged in recent months where residents of Imo State have reportedly been killed by personnel of the Imo State Environmental Transformation Commission (ENTRACO), sparking widespread outrage and raising serious questions about the agency’s approach to law enforcement and public order.
These incidents have been widely reported in the media, drawing attention to a pattern of extrajudicial killings and alleged abuse of power by ENTRACO, an agency originally set up to spearhead environmental sanitation and orderliness in the state.
A recent and particularly harrowing case occurred on a Monday in November 2025, when ENTRACO personnel, in the course of attempting to impound a vehicle along St. Mulumba by Akachi junction in Owerri, struck and killed two individuals.
Eyewitness accounts indicate that the operatives were engaged in a high-handed enforcement action that escalated rapidly, leading to the untimely deaths.
The ENTRACO officials allegedly fled the scene, leaving the victims unattended, a move widely condemned as callous and abhorrent.
This is not an isolated event. Weeks prior, another incident at Toronto Junction, MCC/Uratta Road, Owerri, resulted in fatalities during an altercation involving ENTRACO agents.
According to local reports, a mob lynched two ENTRACO officials after a violent confrontation, which reportedly started when the officials aggressively seized traders’ goods at the Toronto market.
The situation quickly devolved, resulting in chaos, gunshots, and panic within the community. Residents allege that ENTRACO’s presence has become synonymous with intimidation, violence, and fear.
Such recurring incidents of loss of life underscore growing concerns about not only ENTRACO’s operational methods, but also the government’s broader failure to rein in agents of state power.
Public outrage has reached a fever pitch, with the Action People’s Party (APP) and other stakeholders demanding government accountability and the immediate sacking of the commission’s leadership for gross ineptitude, blatant disregard for life, and a pattern of reckless killings.
From the standpoint of constitutional law, these killings are indefensible violations of the Nigerian Constitution.
Section 33 of the 1999 Constitution explicitly guarantees the right to life and strictly limits lawful deprivation of life to the execution of a sentence imposed by a competent court.
Section 14 (2b) further establishes that “the welfare and security of the citizens shall be the primary purpose of government,” reflecting the constitutional obligation on authorities to protect citizens from arbitrary harm, whether from private persons or government agents.
The actions of ENTRACO personnel, as reported, are directly opposed to these sacred duties.
Arbitrary killings by officials acting under color of law, without due process or legitimate justification, amount to extrajudicial executions—a gross abuse of power and a stark indictment of state failure. The state not only has the responsibility to prevent such abuses, but also to investigate and sanction those involved, and to provide remedies for victims and their families.
Moreover, these episodes have deeply eroded public trust in government institutions, fostering a climate of fear and resentment among ordinary residents of Imo State.
It is particularly shocking that an agency intended to promote the welfare and safety of the populace has instead become “more notorious than armed bandits, unknown gunmen, and terrorists,” according to some observers and political parties.
The call for accountability, sweeping reforms, and prosecution of those responsible for these crimes is not just a matter of justice, but a constitutional imperative necessary for restoring public confidence and the rule of law.
To conclude, the killings of Imo residents by ENTRACO personnel are tragic violations of both Nigerian law and basic principles of human decency. Beyond the immediate loss of life, they expose a broader systemic failure: the abdication of the government’s constitutional duty to protect its citizens.
The urgent demand for reform is not simply political rhetoric—it is a plea for the state to act as a true protector, not a predator, in the lives of its people.