UNIZIK SUG President Brutally Beaten and Nearly Shot by Soludo’s criminal Vigilante Group

Tension exploded across Nnamdi Azikiwe University on Tuesday afternoon. Comrade Chisom Ochuba, the Students’ Union Government president, lay on the ground as operatives from the Udogachi Vigilante Group rained blows on him. The attack happened around 2pm on March 25, 2026. Students who witnessed it say the president was simply doing his job, standing up for their rights.

A video circulating widely shows the heartbreaking scene. The SUG leader is on the floor while several men identified as Udogachi operatives pounce on him. Eyewitness accounts claim the attackers even tried to shoot him during the assault. The incident sent shockwaves through the entire UNIZIK community.

The Udogachi Vigilante Group operates as part of Governor Charles Soludo’s security architecture in Anambra State. Many students now label the group criminal for crossing the line from protection to brutality. No one disputes that the president was targeted specifically because he advocated fiercely for student welfare.

What Happened: The Attack on the UNIZIK SUG President

Chaos gripped Nnamdi Azikiwe University on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 25, 2026. Operatives of the Udogachi Vigilante Group physically attacked the university's SUG President, leaving him on the ground while several men pounced on him. A video that spread instantly across social media captured the horrifying scene.

The assault occurred at approximately 2:00 PM. According to an SOS message that students circulated across university platforms, the president was attacked specifically because he was actively advocating for students' rights at the time of the confrontation.

The message did not mince words. Students described the incident as a brutal beating and stated that the attackers went further, allegedly attempting to shoot the student leader during the altercation. That detail, if confirmed, elevates this from an assault to a near-fatal attack on an elected student official.

Student Protest Erupts: Aroma Junction Blocked in Awka

The university community did not stay silent. Within hours of the attack, students mobilized for a large-scale protest, calling for immediate accountability and justice. The demonstration quickly grew far beyond the campus gates.

Hundreds of students converged at Aroma Junction, one of the busiest intersections in Awka, and blocked the road completely. The resulting traffic disruption paralyzed a significant stretch of the city as the protest grew into one of the most visible acts of student defiance Anambra State has seen in recent months.

The rallying cry was clear and pointed: "Unizik no go gree on this one." Students framed the assault not as an isolated incident against one individual, but as an attack on the entire student body. "This is no longer something we can keep quiet about," the circulated message read. "This is an attack on every single student of this institution. Enough is enough."

Who Are the Udogachi Vigilante Group? The Soludo Connection Explained

Operation Udo Ga-Achi, commonly referred to as "Udogachi," is a special security operation launched by Anambra State Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo in January 2025. Governor Soludo created the outfit under the Anambra Homeland Security Law 2025 as a 2,000-strong intervention force comprising personnel from the Nigeria Police, Army, Navy, Civil Defence Corps, the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Agunechemba community vigilante network.

The Agunechemba outfit replaced the old Anambra Vigilante Group (AVG), which Governor Soludo himself acknowledged had been "badly polarised and infiltrated with questionable elements.

Not the First Time: A Pattern of Udogachi Brutality in Anambra

The attack on the UNIZIK SUG President is not an isolated incident. It fits a pattern of documented brutality by Udogachi and Agunechemba operatives that has drawn national outrage for months.

In July 2025, armed operatives of the Udogachi unit stormed a corps members' lodge in Oba, Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State. The operatives, who accused the young women of being internet fraudsters, beat a female NYSC member named Jennifer Elobor, stripped her naked, and left her bloodied. She had produced her NYSC identification card and uniform. The operatives ignored both.

That incident was even more troubling because of the government's initial silence. The assault occurred in July 2025 but only became public in August, when a non-governmental organization posted video evidence on social media. Governor Soludo himself confirmed, during a television interview, that his administration had known about the incident since July but issued no public statement until the footage went viral.

In response to the corps member incident, the Anambra State Government dismissed eight vigilante operatives, covered the victim's medical bills, and issued a public apology. The Special Adviser on Community Security, Ken Emeakayi, described the erring operatives as "bad eggs" and stated that the conduct was "totally outside the mandate of the agency."

Despite those pledges, the March 25 attack on the UNIZIK SUG President suggests that accountability measures have not done enough to change behavior on the ground.

UNIZIK's Wider Crisis: A University Under Pressure

The attack on the SUG President lands at an already turbulent moment for Nnamdi Azikiwe University. Just days earlier, in mid-March 2026, hundreds of UNIZIK workers who claim to have served the institution for over six years without receiving wages staged a separate protest, accusing university management of "institutional betrayal" and alleged payroll manipulation.

Earlier in February 2026, a UNIZIK student was attacked and stabbed by suspected herdsmen near the campus, with one student losing fingers during the assault. The Students' Union Government, led by the same SUG President now targeted by vigilante operatives, had been at the forefront of calling for improved student safety.

The March 25 attack, in that context, reads as a direct reprisal for student advocacy. Whether or not that was the intent of the operatives, it is how the student body experienced it, and their response at Aroma Junction reflects the depth of that anger.

Questions That Demand Answers

As of the time of this report, the Anambra State Government, UNIZIK management, and the leadership of Operation Udo Ga-Achi have not issued any official public statement responding to the assault on the SUG President.

Several urgent questions remain open. What exactly triggered the confrontation between the vigilante operatives and the SUG President? Were the operatives acting on orders, or did they act outside their mandate? What specific student rights issue was the SUG President advocating for at the time? Have any operatives been identified, suspended, or arrested?

Given the precedent set by the NYSC corps member case, where the government dismissed operatives and apologized, students and human rights watchers are watching closely to see whether a faster and more decisive response follows this time.

Why This Incident Matters Beyond the Campus

Student union leaders in Nigerian universities occupy a critical civic role. They are often the only organized voice standing between students and institutional abuse. An attack on an elected SUG President, allegedly carried out by state-backed security operatives, sends a chilling message not just to students, but to anyone willing to advocate for citizens' rights in Anambra State.

The Udogachi operation was designed to fight criminal elements. Instead, a growing body of documented incidents shows its operatives targeting ordinary citizens, corps members serving their country, and now an elected student leader. That gap between design and reality demands a serious governmental reckoning.

Governor Soludo built his security legacy around the promise that Anambra would become Nigeria's safest state. That narrative becomes harder to sustain every time operatives operating under his Homeland Security Law assault the very people they are charged to protect.