The Apo Six killings of June 7, 2005, will remain a searing wound in Nigeria’s collective psyche—a brutal reminder of police impunity and judicial rot in the country. I first learned about the incident from my grandfather in 2010, shortly after my cousin’s death at the hands of the police. I remember my grandfather saying if it was oyibo, they would have turned that tragic event into a film and preserved that history. This is exactly my point here: without art, history will get lost and then find its way back and repeat its mistake. Filmmakers are custodians of history, and this comes with a heavy responsibility. Which is why Linda Ikeji putting on her filmmaker’s hat again in an attempt to immortalise this tragedy is a bold but concerning endeavour, given the poor execution of her previous attempt, Dark October in 2023.
Directed by Toka McBaror (The Waiter), the film opens with a dramatic in media res sequence on the very night of that incident: a young man and woman, battered and terrified, are hurled into a cell alongside four lifeless bodies. This visceral introduction, narrated by a peripheral survivor who informs us that he would have been among the victims had he not left the group earlier, “promises” a gripping reveal into the Apo Six tragedy—5 young traders and a woman, killed by the police after a petty dispute spiraled into a bloodbath. Ikeji, who doubles as the film’s producer and writer, has taken some creative liberties, especially with the names of the victims.
To show how what started as a small gathering of friends for a birthday celebration ended in a brutal massacre, the narrator takes us back to the morning of that fateful day, introducing us to Innocent (Charles Lenny), a young but shrewd trader whose girlfriend, Gladys (April Chidinma) he is trying to impress with a borrowed car. It is this borrowed car and the budding romance between Innocent and Gladys that unintentionally set the stage for the fatal encounter with the police. If Gladys is impressed, she doesn’t show it but what follows next is a sequence of scenes with uncertain editing, a flurry of phone calls that frustratingly keeps you waiting for the big event to happen and an awkward bedroom encounter between the lovers.
The screenplay’s primary sin is its lack of strong thematic resonance. The Apo Six killings, rooted in Nigeria’s culture of police corruption and brutality, demand a narrative that interrogates the power dynamics, oppression and systemic complicity behind the killings. Instead, Ikeji’s script offers a superficial chronology, reducing the tragedy to a series of predictable beats and characters who are mere vessels for the plot. The fatal consequence of this flaw is that the film sidesteps the broader implications of the killing in today’s Nigeria. So what we get is the actors slouching their way through the entire film to an anticipated end, lost in a story that they have no idea holds so much power and relevance in light of today’s constant profiling and brutality of young people in this country by the police.
McBaror’s direction exacerbates these flaws. His visual palette is flat, with often dimly lit scenes and uninspired framing that drain the story of urgency. This directorial complacency mirrors the overall performances, which, while heartfelt in one or two places, lack the spark to elevate the material. Charles Lenny’s Innocent is a bit likable but one-dimensional, his quiet charm unable to compensate for a script that gives him little to work with. The ensemble’s underwhelming performances make it difficult for audiences to emotionally invest in the story, even in the character of Gideon Okeke (Tokunbo), who happens to be the film’s moral compass and a mirror into the poor living conditions of Nigerian police staff.
Despite these shortcomings, the film’s strength lies in a few quieter moments. The ensemble’s raw youthful energy, particularly in scenes of camaraderie among the traders, even in the final moments of their death, captures the fleeting joy of youth in a society stacked against it. These glimpses, though underdeveloped, hint at what The Night of June 7th could have been: a poignant tribute to lives cut short. Yet, even this strength is overshadowed by the film’s broader failures.
The Night of June 7th premiered at the 12th edition of NollywoodWeek (NOW) Film Festival 2025.
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Side Musings
- Innocent asking his mother to check her phone for a bank alert is funny because, going by historical accuracy, the Nigerian bank alert system didn’t start until 2009.
- Notice how that bartender at the club just jejely went inside and called his boss immediately the fracas between the police inspector and the boys started. He no just get energy to separate fight.
- Playing Kolomental by Faze in 2005? God abeg o!
- Innocent warned Chika that his hot temper would land him in trouble one day, and unfortunately, it landed not just him but five others in a shallow grave.
- Linda Ikeji needs to start putting more effort into her filmmaking craft if she is really passionate about telling these kinds of stories.
- Little to no need for such graphic detail for gunshot wounds
- One of the episodes of Showmax’s Crime and Justice Lagos is based on Apo 6.
- Since stories like this already have a known end, more needs to be offered to make the film well thought out.
