Eugene Akosa Keazor CPM

Colonial Police Medal

The Colonial Police Medal is a medal awarded for gallantry or distinguished service to police officers in British Overseas Territories and formerly in Crown Colonies and British Dependent Territories. Officers from these areas can also be awarded the Queen's Police Medal, which is considered to be...

 (7 July 1907 – 1975) was a Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

n police

Police

The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

 officer. From 1959 until Nigeria's independence the next year he held the most senior police rank ever held by an African in the British colony

British West Africa

British West Africa was the collective name for British colonies in West Africa during the colonial period, either in the general geographical sense or more specifically those comprised in a formal colonial administrative entity...

, retiring in 1964. It is also reputed that at many stages in his career, he was one of the most senior Indigenous Police Officers in the British Colonies.

Early life

Keazor was born in Obosi

Obosi

Obosi is a town in Anambra State, southeastern Nigeria. A hotly-contested site during the Nigerian Civil War, the town of about 140,000 people is one of the most densely-populated in West Africa.-Obosi and her related towns:...

, Eastern Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

 (in what is now Anambra State

Anambra State

Anambra is a state in south-eastern Nigeria. Its name is an anglicized version of the original 'Oma Mbala', the native name of the Anambra River. The Capital and the Seat of Government is Awka. Onitsha and Nnewi are the biggest commercial and industrial cities, respectively. The state's theme is...

) on 7 July 1907, to Justus Ikeazor Oboli I, a local chief and early convert to Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 in Obosi.

The young Keazor gained admission into the newly founded Obosi Community School and then Dennis Memorial Grammar School in Onitsha

Onitsha

Onitsha is a city, a commercial, educational, and religious center and river port on the eastern bank of the Niger river in Anambra State, southeastern Nigeria....

 in 1920 at the age of 13. He was an active member of the Boy Scouts of Nigeria

Boy Scouts of Nigeria

The Boy Scouts of Nigeria is the national Scouting organization of Nigeria. Scouting was founded in the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria in 1915 and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1961...

 and was selected for the Inaugural World Scout Jamboree

World Scout Jamboree

The World Scout Jamboree is a Scouting jamboree of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, typically attended by several tens of thousands of Scouts from around the world, aged 14 to 17....

 in Olympia, London

Olympia, London

Olympia is an exhibition centre and conference centre in West Kensington, on the boundary between The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham, London, W14 8UX, England. It opened in the 19th century and was originally known as the National Agricultural Hall.Opened in 1886,...

 in 1920.

Career

Keazor joined the West African Constabulary Force around 1927 and was selected for Officer Training in London around 1947, assuming the rank of Assistant Superintendent. Upon his return to Nigeria he was assigned Command of the Panti Street Police Command in Central Lagos

Lagos

Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...

, as Divisional Police Officer. He was selected for and attended the Funeral ceremony of King George VI as one of the representatives of the Colonial Police Force in February 1952 http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/39575/supplements/3361

Keazor attained the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police in 1959, the most senior position ever held by an African in what was to become the Nigeria Police Force

Nigeria Police Force

The Nigeria Police formerly known as the Nigeria Police Force is the national police of Nigeria.-Authority:The Nigeria Police Force is designated by Section 194 of the 1979 constitution as the national police of Nigeria with exclusive jurisdiction throughout the country...

 while it was still under the Command of the British Government. He distinguished himself in service as part of the police contingent of United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 Peace-Keeping Force drafted to Congo-Kinshasa during the crisis of 1960.

He retired in 1964 to the United Kingdom, where he lived with his wife Anne Abiola Keazor (née Solanke). He died in 1975, survived by several children, notably Chief Timothy Chimezie Ikeazor

Chimezie Ikeazor

Timothy Chimezie Ikeazor is a Nigerian Lawyer. Born in 1930 in Obosi, Anambra State to Eugene KeazorTimothy Chimezie Ikeazor is a Nigerian Lawyer. Born in 1930 in Obosi, Anambra State to Eugene KeazorTimothy Chimezie Ikeazor is a Nigerian Lawyer. Born in 1930 in Obosi, Anambra State to Eugene...

 SAN LLD, founder of the Nigerian Legal Aid scheme, The Honourable Justice Kenneth Keazor

Kenneth Keazor

Kenneth Kola Abiola Keazor is a Nigerian lawyer and jurist, was born in Lagos on the 12th of April 1935 to Eugene Akosa Keazor and Anne Abiola Keazor...

, a former Attorney-General and Judge of the Nigerian High Court,, Dr Henry Keazor, a retired Consultant Anaesthetist, and George Keazor, a former British Army Paratrooper and Civil Servant.