NIGERIA: How ‘Gunmen’ Killed Town Union Leader In Anambra – Police

Frank Igboka

AWKA, ANAMBRA (NAN VIA THE NEWS) --The Police Command in Anambra on Wednesday confirmed the killing of Chief Frank Igboka, the President-General of Nimo community in Njikoka Local Government Area of the state by unknown gunmen.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr Haruna Mohammed, who confirmed the incident in a statement in Awka, said the deceased was shot in his car near Nimo Market.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that late Igboka recently bagged the award of “Hero of Njikoka.

He was a former member of Anambra House of Assembly between 1999 and 2003 where he represented Njikoka Constituency

“At about 8:18pm of April 16, there were sporadic gunshots around Nimo Market in Njikoka Local Government Area.

“Police patrol team attached to Nimo Division rushed to the scene and discovered one Chief Frank Anthony Igboka on the driver’s seat of his Chevrolet SUV vehicle lying unconscious in the pool of his blood.

“His body was riddled with bullets,” Mohammed, a Superintendent of Police (SP), stated.

According to him, the victim was rushed to Beke Hospital, Nimo, where he was confirmed dead by a medical doctor and the corpse was later deposited at the hospital morgue.

He said preliminary investigation revealed that the victim was shot at a close range by four armed men who escaped in a pickup van towards Abacha-Eziowelle road.

The PPRO added, “Twenty-five expended 7.62 mm ammunition was recovered at the scene.

“The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Mustapha Dandaura, has visited the scene and ordered a full scale investigation to ascertain circumstances surrounding the incident and bring perpetrators to justice.”

Mohammed appealed to the public to avail the command with useful information that could help in arresting the perpetrators of the dastardly act using a police emergency number: 07039194332.

NIGERIA: Gunmen Kill Ex-Anambra Lawmaker, Renowned Athlete

Masked Gunmen image via Independent Newspapers

AWKA, ANAMBRA (INDEPENDENT) -- The bullet-riddled body of Chief Frank Igboka, former Chief Whip of the state House of Assembly, was all policemen of the Anambra State Command, met by the time they responded to the shattering sound of gunfire ripping through the stillness of the night at Nimo, a village a few minutes drive to Awka, capital of Anambra State on Tuesday.

Igboka a renowned athlete and the President General of Nimo community in Njikoka Local Government Area, was reportedly eventually felled at about 8:18 p.m. after series of attempts on his life by suspected assassins.

The former lawmaker, who is reported to have about 30 medals in his kitty for his athletic prowess, was said to have been killed by unknown gunmen while driving to his house, located a short distance to the scene of the crime.

News Express, quotes resident of the area, Ijeoma Okonkwo, who as saying that the sporadic gun shots which sent people running to their homes for safety lasted for about 20 minutes.

She said: “I was sitting outside of our home at about after 8pm discussing politics with my parents and brother when suddenly we started hearing loud gun shots. We all ran into the house until the sound of the gunshots stopped.

“I joined my brother to run outside shortly after the gunshot sound stopped. When we got to the scene, some people had already gathered there and on close look, I discovered the man shot was Nimo PG. The people shot him severally.

“It is sad. This is the man that chased bad boys away from Nimo and we have been enjoying peace.”

A statement by the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Haruna Mohammed, said that the deceased was shot at close range by four armed men.

He said the suspects after killing the deceased, escaped towards Abacha/Eziowelle road in a pick-up van.

The statement reads in part: “At about 8:18pm on Tuesday, there was a sporadic gunshots around Nimo market in Njikoka LGA of Anambra State.

“Police patrol team attached to Nimo Division rushed to the scene and discovered Chief Frank Anthony Igboka on the driver’s seat of his Chevrolet SUV vehicle lying unconscious in the pool of his own blood and his body was riddled with bullet wounds.

NIGERIA: Anambra Seals Off Hospital Over Ebola Scare

Aronke Olayiwola, George Okojie, Nkem Osuagwu, Olushola Bello,Winifred Ogbebo and Victor Okeke 

Leadership — Aug 1, 2014   

The Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Josephat Akabuike, announced yesterday that a hospital had been sealed off and its workers and patients quarantined due to Ebola disease scare.

Briefing journalists in Awka, Akabuike said the measure followed information received by the government that a man whose body was brought back from Liberia at the weekend, might have died of the killer disease.

He said that information available to the government indicated that the body was brought back from Liberia through Lagos and deposited in the mortuary at Nkwelle-Ezenaka in Oyi Local Government of the state.

“Part of the briefing is to tell you what we are doing to make sure we don’t allow the deadly virus to come into the state.

“What actually called for this is that we have a report that a corpse was brought through Lagos and the deseased was said to have been taken from Liberia where of course you know there are cases of the disease.

“The corpse was said to have been brought to Nigeria and deposited somewhere in Nkwelle-Ezunaka and the ministry was alerted and that is why we are taking all these measures.”

The commissioner said that Governor Willie Obiano had already directed the Police Command in the state to cordon off the place until the necessary tests were carried out.

He further said that Federal Government had also sent medical experts from the Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja, to Anambra to carry out the test at the hospital premises.

The outbreak of the haemorrhagic fever, for which there is no known cure, began in the forests of remote eastern Guinea in February, but Sierra Leone now has the highest number of cases.

Atiku Joins Ebola Awareness Campaign

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has stepped up awareness campaign on the danger of the deadly Ebola virus.

The foremost politician, who was vice president to President Olusegun Obasanjo between 1999 and 2007, also urged Nigerians to spread the messages of hope and work towards the unity of the country.

Using his Twitter handle (@atiku) and Facebook page (@Atiku Abubakar), Atiku posted links with vital information on the Ebola virus and how to protect oneself and family against the virus, stressing that the disease was preventable if everyone decided to be vigilant.

According to his Facebook posting on Wednesday, “The bad news: Ebola, one of the deadliest diseases in the world, is in Nigeria. The good news: it is preventable.”

On his Twitter handle, @atiku, the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, tweeted, “In these difficult times, we must all be messengers of hope. We must unite our country.”

59 Contacts With Victim Not Infected – Lagos

Lagos State Government has said there was no fresh case of the dreaded Ebola virus disease in the state or any part of the country.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Health, Dr Yewande Adeshina, who stated this yesterday in Lagos, added that none of the persons said to have come in contact with the late Liberian victim of the Ebola virus disease, Patrick Sawyerr, has manifested unusual body temperature or any other symptom of the dreaded virus.

She explained that all the 59 persons who were in close contact with the deceased Liberian in Nigeria were hale and hearty and had not exhibited any unusual symptoms while emphasising that that there had been no case of the dreaded disease from the country’s borders.

Also, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Lagos University Teaching Hospital(LUTH), Professor Akin Osibogun, has said that contrary to reports that one of the contacts of late Sawyer, had started showing symptoms of the disease, none of the specimens of the contacts sent to them tested positive to the virus.

He said: “Since the over 20 specimens have been sent to LUTH, none of them have tested

positive to the virus,” adding that the First Consultants Hospital should be commended for having such high index of suspicion and immediately alerting the federal and state hospitals.

2 contacts with Ebola victim, hospital officials quarantined – FG

But, the federal government yesterday disclosed that about 69 primary contacts of the 40 –year-old Liberian/American Ebola virus victim, were under surveillance while two were under quarantine.

Minster of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, gave the disclosure at a joint press briefing with the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku yesterday in Abuja.

Chukwu said that “the members of staff of the hospital who admitted the man, those with him in the plane and other secondary contacts are being quarantined for the three weeks incubation period of the virus, after which they will be discharged if certified free”.

“The federal government has the primary responsibility in disease control. About 69 primary contacts of the man are under surveillance and two are under quarantine,” he said. He added that the government was still looking for the passengers and implored those with useful information about them to provide such.

The minister said that contrary to insinuations that the airline carrying the man was not cooperating in the search of the other passengers in the airplane, that the government was working in collaboration with the airline and had already received the passengers manifest from the airline.

“We are pushing all frontiers of communication in as much as this virus is concerned. We are sparing no effort.”

Chukwu said that the government was collaborating with the transport companies that were plying across the West Coast, the telecoms, and the state governments in order to disseminate the necessary information and prevention mechanism.

The federal government said it was doing all that was possible to contain Ebola Virus spread, while restricting it to the singular case of the Liberian/American who died after entering the country.

He said: “Following the World Organisation Protocol (WHO) on the Ebola, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and the Lagos State government with permission from the Liberian government, the corpse of the Ebola victim was cremated after it was decontaminated.”

He added that the ashes were expected to be sent to the family.

Also in his remarks, Maku said that Nigerians should not be in unnecessary panic over the virus as it had not entered the country while assuring government’s commitment towards preventing it.

“Ebola and other diseases have similar symptoms. We must be very careful of how we report it. It is not every fever that is Ebola; we don’t want to create unnecessary panic. Fear and not the virus itself can kill people,” he said.

Meanwhile, Lagos State commissioner for information, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba, has advised the citizenry to be wary of the activities of fraudsters who were making spurious claims about their ability to provide cure for the Ebola Virus Disease.

He urged them to always contact health providers to report unusual feelings noticed while cautioning against sending panicky text messages round about the Ebola Disease that could heighten tension and create anxiety.

Ibirogba called on those who wanted to make cheap money from the case to desist from their strange claims of cure for the disease lest they run foul of the law, as only medical solutions are known to be appropriate for the disease.

He reminded residents of the state to contact health authorities in case anyone with observed symptoms of the Ebola disease was noticed.

Ibirogba also counselled residents to observe the highest level of personal environmental hygiene, urging them to visit hospitals or Primary Health Centres nearest to them to report strange feelings noticed.

Health officials screen passengers for Ebola virus at airports

The health officers at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, have begun screening of passengers arriving from foreign countries for symptoms of Ebola, after a traveller from Liberia died of the contagious disease in Lagos.

Speaking in Abuja, yesterday, the director, port services of the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Sani Gwarzo, said they were screening passengers arriving from abroad while health officials were distributing information about how to identify Ebola symptoms.”

He said: “The arriving passengers are to be processed first by port health personnel who are expected to carry out necessary tests on every passenger with special devices that do not permit physical contact. Those found to be free of any signs or symptoms would proceed to the immigration area for other formalities,” Gwarzo said.

He charged aviation stakeholders to be abreast of dangers posed by the Ebola virus and how to prevent the spread of the virus in the airport.

“Port Health officials have sensitized workers from different agencies operating at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International, Abuja on the dangers posed by the Ebola virus and how to prevent the spread of the virus in the work place, home and the

community,” Gwarzo said.

He added that the awareness campaign was carried out to complement other measures already put in place by port health at the country’s international airports to prevent the presence and spread of the Ebola virus in Nigeria.

“A holding area has been provided at the tarmac for suspected cases while key cases are expected to be isolated in a designated area outside the airport for further examination and treatment,” he said.

In attendance at the awareness campaign were officials from airlines, Immigration, Customs, NDLEA, Nigeria Police, handling companies, FAAN and NCAA, among other agencies at the airport.

NIGERIA: Jubilation In Anambra As Appeal Court Upholds Obiano's Victory

 JULY 27, 2014 

Supporters of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) broke into celebration, victory songs and almost turned the premises of the Court of Appeal into a carnival ground as the court reaffirmed the ruling of the Anambra State Election Petitions Tribunal on the victory of Chief Willy Obiano in the November 2013 governorship election.

Delivering judgment in four separate appeals, the five justices of the court: Hon. Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba; Hon. Justice Ejembi Eko; Hon Justice I.O. Akeju; Hon. Justice Tijjani Abubakar; and Hon Justice M. Mustapha, yesterday, unanimously dismissed the appeals of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and its candidate, Senator Chris Ngige; the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP), its candidate Tony Nwoye; and governorship aspirant in the election, Dr. Chike Obidigbo, for lack of merit.

In the election Ngige, came third behind Obiano while Nwoye of the PDP came second. Ngige and Nwoye had proceeded to appeal after losing at the Election Petition Tribunal presided by Hon. Justice Ishaq Bello, which on June 4 in Awka upheld the victory of Obiano, declaring that he was validly elected, as the November 16, 17 and 30 governorship ballot complied substantially with the provisions of the Electoral Act and the 1999 Constitution.

Pronouncing ruling in the appeal by Ngige against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Obiano, APGA, and others, the Presiding Justice, Mohammed Garba said: “The appeal lacks merit and is dismissed in its entirety. The ruling of the Election Tribunal on June 4, 2014, is hereby affirmed by me. I have assessed cost at N50,000 in favour of the third respondent (Obiano).”

That became the pattern in the subsequent appeals, as each Justice affirmed the lack of merit in the appeals. On the second ruling, which is the appeal by Nwoye against INEC, Obiano and others, the PDP candidate had, like Ngige, canvassed a cancellation of the election and a fresh poll held because of irregularities and the double registration by Obiano. His appeal was also unanimously dismissed by the five justices, and N50,000 cost awarded in favour of Obiano.”

The PDP’s appeal which was similar to the one by Nwoye was also dismissed in similar fashion.

Dr. Obidigbo, an APGA governorship aspirant, who wanted the court to declare him the rightful candidate of the party after he merged with the candidate of another faction of the party, also canvassed a cancellation of the election and a fresh election held.

The Presiding Justice apologized for the delay in delivering the ruling following extensive typographical errors in the judgement. These errors necessitated the delay of the ruling from 9am till 2 pm. Although the corrections of errors could not be completed at the time of the delivery, Garba opted to pronounce the ruling without reading the entire judgment.

Taking time off the celebrations, the National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh told journalists that the party was grateful to God for the Judiciary.

He noted that, “it has become obvious that over 95 per cent of judicial officers in this country have decided to uphold the rule of law and principles of law. Today, a five-man panel of the Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed all the appeals standing against our victory at the lower tribunal in Awka following our victory at the governorship election in November 2013.

“We were not in doubt that all these appeals will be dismissed because APGA’s candidate, Chief Obiano, won this election. Our opponents, the APC and PDP, decided to head to the Tribunal. During the hearing at the Tribunal, they did not prove anything, and the Tribunal ruled in our favour. Both the APC and its candidate, the PDP, and another petitioner, who claimed to be a member of APGA, Chike Obidigbo, had their petitions dismissed for lack of merit.”

---------DAILY TIMES NIGERIA, SUNDAY, JULY 27, 2014

AGPA Crisis: Okwu’s Faction Appoints Acting Chairman In Anambra

|  Augustine Aminu, Daily Times Nigeria

 

The Chief Maxi Okwu faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has appointed Chief Shedrack Anakwue as its acting chairman in Anambra.

Anakwue's appointment followed a Federal High Court ruling which declared Okwu as the authentic National Chairman of the party.

The appointment was contained in a statement signed by Dr Sagir Maidoya, the National Secretary to the faction in Awka.

The release stated that Anakwue’s appointment was expected to be ratified at the party’s national executive council meeting in Abuja on Feb. 6.

It stated that the national working committee had reviewed the situation in the state, noting that there were issues which the erstwhile factional state chairman, Egwuoyibo Okoye, needed to clarify.

Reacting to the appointment, Anakwue said that he would reposition the party in the state to accommodate all the interest groups after his inauguration.

He said the party had been at war because of the in-house leadership tussle.

Anakwue commended the outgoing state governor, Peter Obi, for transforming the state with his numerous programmes and policies.

In his contribution, the National Youth Leader of the party, Ferguson Okpara, while congratulating Anakwue, urged him to take the party to greater height in the state.

Anambra Guber Elections "Inconclusive" INEC Says

From the other side of their mouth, the Independent National Electoral Commission - INEC - said it was set to announce Willie Obiano of the All Progeressive Grand Alliance, the APGA, as Governor elect. On their next breath Monday, November 18, 2013, the electoral commission said the "Saturday Guber Election" is "Inconclusive" because no candidate had 25 percent of votes in two-thirds of the 21 local government areas of the state. According to the returning officer Prof. James Epoke, "for a candidate to emerge as the winner, he must have scored not only the highest number of votes cast, but should also garner 25 per cent in two-third of the local government areas in the state. Epoke also announced a supplementary election would hold at yet to be fixed date.

Women Protest In Awka Following The Guber Elections

Hundreds of women Sunday, November 17, 2013 marched on the streets of Awka, Anambra State to protest the Independent National Electoral Commission conduct of the guber elections in the state on the grounds of election rescheduling and late arrivals of electoral materials in some parts of the state. Image:Joseph Jibueze/The Nation

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Anambra Poll: Obiano's Still in the Race, Declares APGA

 November 16, 2013 - 7:17am | By Jude Ugochukwu/Daily Times

 

The All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) has urged the general public and the electorate in Anambra state to disregard any information that its candidate in Saturday's gubernatorial elections in Anambra, Dr Willie Obiano was disqualified. The party dismissed the information as false and the handiwork of desperate politicians.
In a statement issued by the party's Director of Publicity, Mr. Iheanacho Oguejiofor, APGA urged the general public, especially the Anambra electorate to disregard the false  information.
It described the information as the  handiwork of desperate political conspirators aimed at running down its governorship candidate.
"The APGA candidate is still in the race. The propaganda is a calculated lie to misinform the general public, especially the Anambra electorate in order to confuse them, thus the false propaganda should be ignored by all and sundry.
"Moreover, this is the last desperate attempt by some unscrupulous and aggrieved political conspirators and their supporters to mislead the general public, particularly the Anambra voters  against the APGA candidate, " he said.

Hundreds Of ‘Criminals’ Held Before Nigeria Poll

AFP

Nigerian amphibious army advance towards the enemy during a joint military exercise between Nigerian armed forces, United States, Britain, Netherlands and Spain in Lagos, in this Oct. 18, 2013 photo. (AFP)

LAGOS: Nigerian police on Friday said they had arrested more than 200 people suspected of “criminal motives” as they prepared to head to a state holding a crunch vote for its next governor.

“We have arrested some 181 strange-looking people loitering around in Owerri,” the capital of Imo, state police commissioner Mohammed Katsina said on local Channels television. “They are suspected of having entered the state with criminal motives.”

Imo state police spokeswoman Joy Elomokor later told AFP that the number of arrests had risen by Friday afternoon.

“We have arrested and detained a total of 203 suspects so far, most of them are from Osun state” in southwest Nigeria, she said.

“We suspect they have no genuine mission either in Imo or Anambra state. They are fierce-looking people and we are interrogating them on their true mission.”

Two rifles were recovered from the suspects, said Katsina, with television footage showing the guns and scores of accreditation cards said to have been issued by Nigeria’s election watchdog.

Saturday’s vote in Anambra state is being closely watched as a key test of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan’s popularity before his expected campaign for re-election in 2015.

But there have been fears of election-linked violence and vote-rigging, prompting tight security and restrictions on movement.

A spokesman for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Kayode Idowu, denied he knew of the arrest of its staff.

“I do not have such information that either our election observers or officials have been arrested or detained. I doubt it,” he said.

He was responding to a claim by Lagos-based human rights lawyer and politician Festus Keyamo, who said 120 “innocent and patriotic” INEC-accredited election observers were arrested in Owerri this week while undergoing training.

More Protests Trail Anambra APGA, PDP Pre-Guber Polls Exercises

 The Guardian Nigeria
Sunday, August 18, 2013

ONE of the aspirants of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the Anambra State governorship election, Mr Oseloka Obazi, declared Sunday that the decision of the party’s appeal panel which upheld his disqualification has brought to an end the process of his candidacy for the polls.

  Wishing his colleagues who had been cleared by the panel well in their campaign, he noted that he was not resident in Nigeria when the previous voter’s registration was done, hence could not possess voter’s card which was a statutory requirement of section 12 (c) of the party’s guideline.

  Obaze, who is  also Secretary to State Government (SSG), in a statement, said: “For me, there was no other way to obtain a card but legally, and through INEC. The first opportunity to do so in Anambra, would be on Monday 19 August 2013 (today).   The APGA appeal panel did not accede to my request to present the card within the 48 hours window, established by Section 12 (c) of the party electoral guidelines, which according to their sitting schedule, commenced at 3.00 p.m. on Saturday 17 August 2013, and should statutorily end at 3.00 p.m. on Monday,  August 19, 2013.”

  Stressing that the appeal panel “upheld the decision of Governorship Screening Panel to disqualify me on what was a mere technicality of not having a voter’s card,” he thanked Governor,Peter Obi, his family, friends, staff and all those who offered their support and prayers while the campaign lasted.
  An elder brother of the immediate past former Commissioner of Local Government /Chieftaincy Matters, Mr. Dubem Obaze, he was disqualified alongside a former Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, Mr. Emma Nweke, Dr. Chike Obidigbo and Mr. Chinedu Idigo.
  However, there are strong feelers that Obi might restore him as SSG.

  Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Congress Appeal Panel for Anambra State headed by Alhaji Suleiman Lawal Kauru has commenced sitting in Awka, the capital.

  The four- man panel came to look into petitions and bickering arising from the party’s last Monday’s congress in the state held to elect three ad-hoc delegates for the governorship primary scheduled for August 24, 2013.

  However the waiting game for the release of the results of the congress may have ended with the arrival of the appeal panel. There were indications from the Awka secretariat of the congress committee that Chief Udo Ogochukwu, its chairman, has shown a willingness to make results of the congress public.

  The panel, according to Kauru, has so far received no fewer than four petitions which were mainly on “ manipulation of the process occasioning unnecessary and avoidable delays” that marred the congress in some areas.

  On his part, a gubernatorial aspirant of the Labour Party (LP) in the November election, Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah, has emphasised the need to encourage estate developers for housing schemes.

  He stated that if elected, his administration would pursue an affordable housing scheme and encourage businessmen who build houses outside the state to come back and invest.

  In a statement, Ubah who is the Chairman, Capital Oil and Gas Ltd, said: “Incentives to encourage developers will include allocation of cheap land and provision of sites and services on proposed development sites. Also bureaucratic bottlenecks and hardships in getting certificate of occupancy in Anambra State will be minimised by our administration.

   “Our people, especially the civil servants will be given loans to assist them to acquire their own houses in any of the various housing estates. We will ensure the salaried workers will have their own homes when the retire.”

 Also, an APGA aspirant, Chief Willie Maduabuchi Obiano, has promised to encourage the party’s growth beyond the South-East region.

  Pledging to sustain Obi’s projects, he said his major objective was to provide democracy divided to the people in areas covering health, education, infrastructural development, youth and women empowerment.

   He hailed Obi’s developmental efforts, which according to him, have helped to open up the rural areas, especially by providing roads, electricity and water among others   previously lacking in several communities.

Lawrence Njoku (Enugu), Chuks Collins, Uzoma Nzeagwu (Awka) and Tunde Akinola (Lagos) contributed to this article

The Role of Uba in my Government -- Mbadinuju Interview

Throwback Anambra Politics fom the Archives

Published in Syndication

August 05, 2003

Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju was until May 29 this year the Governor of Anambra State. His four-year tenure was turbulent as he had a running battle with political godfathers who did not make things easy for him. With a new government led by Dr. Chris Ngige, the same problem of godfather has arisen again culminating in the abduction of Ngige by a police team led by Assistant Inspector General, Mr. Raphael Ige (rtd). Mbadinuju, who is currently residing in London was sent a questionnaire on latest events in Anambra State as well as how he was able to tackle the same problem. In his answers which he sent to Chukwudi Nwabuko via e-mail from London, Mbadinuju asked Ngige to quit office if he cannot prove duress before signing the controversial resignation letter. He spoke of his relationship with the self-acclaimed political godfather of Anambra State, Chief Chris Uba and the strangle hold Uba has on the state financial allocation.

Excerpts:

You are no doubt aware of the current events concerning the abduction of Dr. Chris Ngige, What do you have to say to this?

This is one crisis too many for the state. Government is like a relay race, the incoming one takes over from where the out going stops. It is important that the runners should run forward not backward.

In spite of only 5 months of strike action ( not 12 months as detractors say, and only 3 months ( March, April, and (May which Federal Government withheld) of salary arrears, my administration moved Anambra state forward. For example, within 100 days in office, we completed and moved into the government house with dualized entrance and other facilities of novel importance. Can anybody say that Anambra has moved forward since I handed over to the new administration in May? It is now August ( nearly 100 days). Have we not moved backwards? The runners in the relay race are they running forward or back ward? I don't know. The people will judge.

Many things about the abduction must be condemned, including the events leading to it: the alleged slapping of the governor, the governor at the shrine, the signing of post-dated cheques of N870.0 million, N1.5 billion, and another N1.5billion, knowing at the time of signing there was no money in the bank (this is a criminal offense in itself, to sign a cheque knowing you have no money in the bank), the three resignation letters; and then the abduction. It all sounds like folk tale not to be associated with the serious business of governance.

The most contentious are the resignation letters. The Governor first said he did not sign them, then he went further and said he signed but under duress. Then finally, he admitted signing away his office, and then the oath of allegiance he took for his mentor. If the Governor can prove duress, he should be discharged legally, not morally. If he cannot prove duress, he must perform as he contracted and vacate office. No one should eat his cake and have it. You cannot approbate and reprobate at the same time. Or after a contract of resignation do you punish one party and protect the other? If the agreement is not good in law, it may be accepted in equity because one party had moved to its detriment. It is because of the "agreement" that Uba & co pumped in their money and did their "abracadabra or anwansiology" in "panel-beating" the results announced in Anambra state, and Chris Uba has admitted that he is a businessman not a philanthropist. Who blames hi m, it is a cash and carry business. Let's hope that one day the true result will be known.

In your opinion, was Dr. Ngige in order to have entered into a deal with Chris Uba and the other dramatis personae?

Most people running for election anywhere in the world make deals. They make deals with the electorate, they make deals with financial contributors, they make deals with interest groups like labor union, teachers, traders, businessmen, the military. The aim is "vote for me and I will do this or that for you if I win." What is wrong in it? The only thing wrong is breaking the promise or enforcing the agreement in an unlawful manner. So, Dr. Chris Ngige did no wrong essentially to strike a deal with a financier. Neither did Uba go wrong in accepting to finance a friend's election on terms. What is wrong again is the bad faith and blackmail associated with the whole transaction. Both Chris Ngige and Chris Uba colluded or conspired to edge me out using all sorts of blackmail and propaganda and support from by Abuja. Now nemesis has caught up with them because the Bible in Galatians 6: 7 says that "whatsoever a man soweth, that he shall reap."

What role did Chris Uba play in your government during your tenure?

Chief Uba (Eselu ) was the closest friend I had in government, but he is a man of many parts. You really cannot tell when he is for or against you.

If he had listened to numerous advice given to him, he should not have plotted the downfall of my regime. It is a pity we are talking of a one-man plot, although some have alleged that Abuja gave the Ubas the nod to produce the Anambra governor and fill other positions in the last election. If that is true it means that anybody (even a goat) chosen by the Ubas would have won the election. In that case I was not so chosen, not because I owed salary arrears, which most states plus the Federal Government owed at one time or another; or that workers went on strike, and we know that strike is a national problem. My not going back for second term had nothing to do with such reasons. After all, the President during his State visit to Anambra state commended the level of infrastructural development during my administration; when he said, " I have come, I have seen, I have heard and I have been heard. All in all I am satisfied with what I saw on the ground."

If the President was not impressed with what he saw in the State he would not have said so. Later, I told him that what he said on the stage at Awka during the PDP campaign was plain politics, and he agreed that he came to Awka to campaign and to play politics. So that is the issue. My achievements and contributions to the development of Anambra State will be properly appreciated after other administrations have come and gone. So Chris Uba was the leading contractor in my administration. He kept collecting N10.0million every month from our Federation Account at source from Abuja to execute the projects at the "Zik's Place." My administration tried to stop the payment which was approved by one of the military administrations, but the Central Bank told us that one side cannot annul such a contract. So Uba collected the N10.0million a month for the four years I was in office. This was in addition to other payments we made to him through bank loans. All these were done to carry him along, and Abuja had advised very often that we should carry the Ubas along. My worst headache was what to do with Chris Uba because if he tells you the Presidency has said this and this, you cannot always reach the Presidency to verify the story. For example, the variation we made of the cost of the new Government House and Lodge was made based on alleged approval by the Presidency which we could not verify.

There were insinuations that your government did not meet the pledges made to the godfathers. What was the extent of godfather influence at your time?

Would you agree that Anambra State is under the seige of godfathers and money bags?

If I had any godfather, he was Dr. A.B.C. Orjiako who stood with me financially, and otherwise, from the beginning to the end of the campaigns and election. Sir Emeka Offor who joined my campaign after it was clear to him that I had won the election by defeating Prof. ABC Nwosu at the primaries, claimed he was godfather. If he had been my godfather, he wouldn't have plotted to use the State House to impeach me, my first week in office, and throughout the four years. However, we are now friends because he failed in his plots against my regime. But let me clear this point again. Emeka Offor, Dr. Orjiako, and myself agreed to allow Offor nominate two commissioners-Finance and Works. Contrary to propaganda of my opponents, I accepted his nominees and appointed them only after he stopped plotting for my impeachment. But after he resumed criticizing my government I removed his nominees from office. Nobody can fault me there. It is either you're in Government, or you're in opposition. You cannot be in government and be free to criticize the same regime.

If what we had in Anambra State during my administration and what is going on now in Dr. Chris Ngige's regime is what "godfather" is all about, then there should be a law to proscribe it in the whole country. It should no longer be part of our system.

With the turn of events in Anambra State, would you say you are vindicated?

Nobody should rejoice over what Anambra State is going through. I even had worse problems, but I managed better. My problems came from everywhere: armed robbers and security problems, workers, pensioners, markets, and traders, some religious leaders, and some traditional rulers, Even inside the government there were saboteurs. It is not because of me that there were these problems. Any governor of Anambra State would pass through the same baptism of fire. I am lucky to have lasted four years! No other regime had lasted more than two years. Maybe it is the nature of our people. I believe I lasted long because of prayers. I made prayers my bedrock; praying with workers every Monday morning and starting Sunday fellowship at the governor's lodge every Sunday morning. God took control and kept us till the end. My contract with Anambra State was for four years. I have no regrets handing over, although I am not happy with the turn of events.

There is the belief that witout the presidency, the coupists would not have gone the extent they did, what is your opinion?

This is not an easy question because it is speculative. What is the evidence that the Presidency is involved in the Anambra saga? Every person accusing the Presidency does so on a speculative ground. The first problem is to define the word 'Presidency," and whether the word means the President as many think. Definitely, Presidency is more than the President. Even the special assistants in the Presidency sometimes "use" the President's name. For example, if a special assistant in the Presidency, on his own, had arranged to intervene in the Anambra matter between Ngige and Uba leading to the abduction without prior knowledge of the President, we can talk of the Presidency (meaning the special assistant) but not the President.

Meanwhile, I think the President is reacting well to the crisis. He is not the cause of it. Besides, there is a way he might handle the solution, and it will lead to an escalation of the crisis. I think that there is a huge difference in Mr. President's crisis management this second term in office. If he had handled the problems of Anambra State during my tenure the way he is doing now, there would have been no need for change of regime and we would have been spared of the present crises.

If you had won your re-election bid, how would you have tackled this problem?

"If I had won my re-election" according to the question, again is conjectural because I did not "win" by the declaration of INEC. But by the exercise of the mandate of Anambra people, I know I won the election. It is the injustice meted to me that gave birth to all the repercussions we see in the State. Until my injustice is redressed, that of Governor Ngige will have no place for redress. This is the first time ( and I hope the last time) a sitting Governor is asked not to run for re-election on the platform of the party he helped to build and nurture. There is no doubt that if the party had nominated me I would have won and Anambra State would have been better for it by now. In any case, I still pray and hope for normalcy in the State.

There is also an element of destiny in my not going for a second term. In all the jobs I have held which required re-appointment or re-election, I had not gotten a second chance. That may be my predestination. I have some examples: After I finished first term at the State University of New York at Cortland USA, as Associate Professor and Chairman of the Department, in 1975, problems arose when it came to my re-appointment, and for that reason I left and gained admission to study law at the University of Southampton, England between 1975 and 1977. I came back to Nigeria in 1977, and was employed at the Daily Times between 1977 and 1979. When it was time to renew my appointment in Daily Times, the newly elected Governor Jim Nwobodo gave me a new appointment in his government at Enugu in 1979, and when it was time to review and renew the appointment, there was a problem as usual, and from there I got appointment at the Federal level as Special Assistant (Poli tical/Administration) in the Office of the Vice President Dr. Alex Ekwueme. At the end of the first term, as we were getting ready for a second term in office, the military struck in 1983 and there was no second term. This time around as PDP Governor, when my achievements in office in the first term could have earned me a ticket for second term, confusion set in and I was ousted. However, what is so remarkable in each of the cases described is that after I missed re-appointment(s), I had moved higher from where I was. My going to study law in 1977 was a step higher than lecturing in the University as far as I am concerned. Furthermore, my appointment as General Manager and Chief Executive of Star Printing and Publishing Company Enugu, and later Director of Research/Planning and Publicity in Governor Nwobodo's office was a higher step than my brief stint at the Daily Times as editor of "Times International." My leaving Governor Nwobodo's government for appoint at the Federal level was obviously another step higher. So, I believe that after my first term as Governor of Anambra state, and having missed the second term by predestination, it is by the same predestination that I know that something "big" awaits me somewhere, sometime in future.

Do you think that Dr. Ngige should have resigned as some people have said? What is your advice?

I have answered this question earlier when I said that if Governor Ngige can prove "duress" in signing those letters of resignation, he should be pardoned. If not, he should keep to the terms of the agreement he signed and vacate office. Actually, I think that the Office of the Governor of Anambra State has been desecrated and should need exorcism, cleansing, and fresh anointing.. This can only come through fasting and prayer.

How would you have described Ngige's explanation that he played along with the group rather than cry out initially?

Governor Ngige's explanation that he played along with the other group rather than cry out from the beginning is just an after-thought. It is hard to believe. He was clearly a key player in Chris Uba's camp and he owed his "election" or "selection" to that group. So there was no reason for him to have "cried out" initially. He began complaining only when he started losing ground and losing the support of the group he belonged to. I don't know if the lesson has been learnt.

As a lawyer, how do you view the handling and comments by the NBA on the death of Barrister Igwe and his wife? Secondly, do you think that the NBA has been fair to you?

On the Igwes' case and the position the Nigerian Bar Association, I have recently written a comprehensive letter to the NBA which dealt with all the aspects of the matter and I cannot better the argument I made in the letter. Suffice it to say that NBA to which I belong has not been fair to me because it chose to listen to one man, one Chuka Obele Chuka, chairman of Onitsha branch of the Associa-tion. The chairman is an avowed political opponent of my government even before the Igwes were killed. He should not have been allowed to influence the Bar that much. Finally, I look forward to reconciliation with the NBA so that together we can look for who killed the Igwes.

Finally, those who like to disparage Anambra state and in the habit of recounting prominent men produced by the State like: Zik of Africa, Alex Ekwueme, Ikemba Nnewi, Chuba Okadigbo, Pius Okigbo, Chinua Achebe and so on, my question is: which one of these prominent sons were not rejected by his contemporaries? Was it Zik who was virtually impeached and accused of embezzlement? or Alex Ekwueme who tried to settle Anambra problems during my tenure only to receive doses of insult? Was he not rejected at the gubernatorial primaries before being elevated to the post of Vice President of the country? As Vice President was he supported by Anambra people? Let us also not forget the rejection of Chuba Okadigbo as the Senate President and later as Vice Presidential candidate. Are we also going to forget how Dr. C.P. Ezeife was turned into a "football" kicked around by those opposed to MKO Abiola and the Progressives? Neither can we forget my "current history" of tur bulent governance of Anambra State. It is God alone who will solve the problems of Anambra state. Most of our people are deeply religious but lack the spirit of God, and the character of God. I pray for God's mercy.

Southeast Govs Meet Over 2015

GOVERNORS of the Southeast geo-political zone met in Enugu Saturday to articulate the position of the zone on the Southern Nigeria political leaders meeting holding today in Asaba, the Delta State capital.

Although there was no official confirmation to the positions reached by the governors, sources said the Enugu meeting, which lasted for over four hours, deliberated extensively on the role of Ndigbo in 2015 dispensation, stressing that such position would be presented today, when the leaders of the 17 southern states meet in Asaba.

At the meeting were Governors Peter Obi (Anambra), Martin Elechi (Ebonyi), Theordore Orji (Abia), Sullivan Chime (Enugu) and Deputy Governor of Imo state, Eze Mmadumere.

There were also others in the meeting including, Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha Senator Ayogu Eze,Senator Uche Chukwumerije, Minister of Power,Professor Chinedu Nebo, a representative of the traditional institution of the zone, the clergy led by Dr Amos Madu, the archbishop of Enugu Ecclesiastical Province, Anglican communion, among others.

But Governor Obi, who is also the chairman of South East governors forum, who emerged after the closed door meeting told Journalists that the meeting discussed about the visit of President Goodluck Jonathan as well as the burial plans of literary icon, Late Professor Chinua Achebe.

Achebe, he restated would be buried on May 23, this year at his family compound in Ogidi, Anambra state, stressing that the meeting was basically the review plans already made by the burial committee and the governors.

President Goodluck Jonathan will be embarking on a working visit to the Southeast zone of the country within the week. Obi added that the visit formed the reason for the emergency meeting.

The governor, who failed to give the exact date of the President’s visit to the zone, also failed to entertain questions from newsmen on other discussions at the meeting.

--------Lawrence Njoku, Guardian, May 11, 2013

Blame Obi, Okorocha For Crisis In APGA – Party Chieftain

The two governors of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), governors Peter Obi of Anambra State and Owelle Rochas Okorocha of Imo State have been blamed for the latest crisis rocking the party.

While there have been disagreements amongst stakeholders of the party over the bid by Okorocha to drag the party into the merger of opposition parties in Nigeria, the sacking last Friday of the Chief Victor Umeh - led leadership of the party by an Enugu High Court was said to be the handiwork of governor Peter Obi.

Speaking with correspondents at the weekend in Abuja, a founding member of APGA from Enugu State, Chief Willy Ezugwu said it was unfortunate that the power tussle in the party had been elevated to a point of ruthlessness which could lead to the disintegration of the party if care wasn’t taken.

“There is no where in any party’s constitution that the governor takes decision by himself without recourse to the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), National Executive Committee (NEC) and leaders.

“Obi has been doing this. He has created factions in APGA and is responsible for its infiltration and the leadership crisis currently rocking the party. I dare say he is doing this for the PDP and this is sad”, Ezugwu said.

He regretted that this was a huge betrayal on late APGA leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, adding that were it not for Ojukwu who had to kneel down and beg Anambra people to vote for Peter Obi, the incumbent wouldn’t have been governor, adding that Ojukwu would be fuming with rage in his grave.

On the merger move on behalf of the party by Owelle Rochas Okorocha, Ezugwu who doubles as the secretary general of Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), said Okorocha was on his own as selfish interest was the underlining motive for his action.

“There is no way APGA could just be dragged into this merger bid by an individual without due discussion amongst members.

“The painful factor in all these is that these persons allegedly discussing this merger bid are just newcomers who do not even know how the party was formed. They only used the party to win elections and now feel they can become lords over the party. That to me is unfortunate and highly regrettable,” Ezugwu said.

--------Stanley Nkwocha, Leadership, February 11, 2013

Ezu River - Corpses Were Our Members in Police Custody - MASSOB

The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has identified the corpses of those found floating in the Ezu River at Amansea community, Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State as those of their members who were in police custody.

MASSOB Director of Information, Comrade Uchenna Madu, claimed in a press statement made available to newsmen yesterday that the controversial corpses were those of their members who were arrested by security agencies in different parts of the Anambra State last year but were never released, nor charged to court. He alleged that they secretly executed alongside other criminals by the security agents and dumped in the river to cover their tracks.

Comrade Madu stated, "MASSOB, with a deep sense of grief and sorrow, wishes to inform Mr. Ban Ki Moon (UN Secretary General), President Goodluck Jonathan, US President Barack Obama, United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC), and Amnesty International about the gruesome murder of MASSOB members by the Special Anti-Robbery Squared (SARS) of Nigeria Police Force, Awkuzu, Anambra State."

He disclosed some of the victims' names as Basil Ogbu, Michael Ogwa, Sunday Omogo, Philip Nwankpa, Eze Ndubisi, Ebuka Eze, Obinna Ofor, Joseph Udoh and Uchechukwu Ejiofor.

According to him, they were arrested at MASSOB's security office at Onitsha, Anambra State, on Novemberc 9, 2012, by a combined team of Nigerian security agents - Army, Police and SSS - and were later handed over to SARS' headquarters in Awkuzu, Anambra State, where they were detained until their suspicious disappearance.

Madu said: "We got information from an insider at SARS headquarters, Awkuzu, that armless MASSOB members detained at SARS were secretly killed alongside other robbery suspects."

Meanwhile, the acting spokesman of the Anambra State police command, Mr. Emeka Chukwuemeka, reacted to the MASSOB claims by saying that it was only the outcome of the autopsy being conducted on the specimen taken from the corpses that could state whether the claims by the group were true or false."

--------Ngwuja Ugwuoke, Leadership, February 8, 2013

Okorocha, Obi's Aides Clash At Church Dedication

For the second time in months, a clash between the aides of Governors Peter Obi of Anambra State and Chief Rochas Okorocha of Imo State over sitting arrangements was averted Sunday by the Archbishop of Owerri Ecclesiastical Province, Most Rev. Anthony Obinna, during the dedication of Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Catholic Church built by Chairman of Zinox Computers, Chief Leo Stan Ekeh, in Amauburu IIsi-Ubomiri, Mbaitoli Local Government Area in Imo State.

Obi had arrived the church earlier for the church dedication scheduled for 10 o'clock, but as he made his way to the front seat row reserved for dignitaries, he was told by one of the aides of Okorocha that the seats were reserved for the Imo State Governor and his entourage who were yet to arrive for the function.

THISDAY gathered that the apparent refusal of the aides of the Imo State governor to allow Obi and his entourage to seat in the front row infuriated the aides of the Anambra State governor, who engaged Okorocha's aides in a heated argument.

But for the intervention of the Catholic Archbishop of Owerri, Archbishop Obinna, who told the aides of Okorocha pointblank that seats are not reserved for late comers in the House of God, adding that those in authority should respect God because His is the ultimate power.

However, during his homily, Obinna admonished political office holders to imbibe the spirit of service to the people and not the other way round, noting that in spite of the abundant resources that the country is blessed with majority of the people are living in abject poverty because those in the leadership positions do not have the spirit of Christ in them.

He said "those in authority should remember that in whatever position they occupy should be used to serve the people, in spite of the abundance that God has blessed the country with, majority of the people are still living in grinding poverty," adding today we kill for political power, for money and for pleasure and that is why there is no peace in the land, because very few people have diverted the entire resources of the country.

The cleric said recently the protocol officer of the Imo State governor was murdered, stating "this is because those in leadership positions do not have Christ in them."

Obinna commended Ekeh for single-handedly building the church and advised other leaders to emulate such gesture to uplift the well-being of their people, adding that the action of Ekeh could be likened to the biblical Nehemiah who had returned to Jerusalem during the Jewish exile to rebuild the temple and urged others to emulate what he has done.

The ceremony which also climaxed with the traditional wedding ceremony of Chief Leo Stan Eke's daughter with a popular Yoruba family had in attendance dignitaries including the wife of Imo State Governor, Nneoma Nkechi Okorocha, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Emeka Ihedioha; Senators Chris Anyanwu and Ifeanyi Araraume, former governor of Anambra State, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, who was the chairman of the occasion; Ambassadors Greg Mbadiwe and Dr. Kema Chikwe, among others.

It would be recalled that was the second time that the two governors are having a brush over sitting arrangement.

Last year, Okorocha was reported to have allegedly fought over sitting arrangement in Enugu during the South-east zonal Constitutional Review meeting.

-------Amby Uneze, This Day, Monday, January 28, 2013

Obi Offers N5m For Clue On Bodies Found In Anambra River

Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State yesterday offered to pay N5 million as reward to anyone with useful information leading to the source of the unidentified corpses discovered floating on the Ezu River on Saturday.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Obi visited the Ezu River in Amansea, a border town with Enugu State, the scene where the corpses were still floating yesterday.
Members of the Amansea community, near Awka, had woken up Saturday morning to discover 15 corpses afloat the river bordering Anambra and Enugu States.

Obi described the discovery as “mindless killing” and dumping of the corpses as “barbaric and shocking.”

“What happened here is unacceptable in any decent society. Human life and blood is sacred and all of us must respect the sanctity of human life,” Obi said.

Obi, who was accompanied by the State Police Commissioner, Mr. Bala Nassarawa, and other top government officials, urged the people to remain calm as the state governments were on top of the situation. “The police have been directed to move in their homicide teams and recover the bodies,” he said.

In a related development,  the state Deputy Police Public Relations Officer (DPPRO), Mr. Emeka Chukwuemeka, yesterday confirmed that only 18 bodies were removed from the Ezu River of Amansea in the state. Chukwuemeka, who made the confirmation in Awka, said specifically that “as at Sunday, 18 bodies were found at the time of evacuation,” according to the NAN.

Meanwhile, evacuation of the bodies begun at about 4 p.m. yesterday with a discovery of three additional corpses, bringing the total number to 18. The evacuation was done by some officials in traditional canoes, who moved around the river retrieving bodies to a designated place, apparently for mass burial.

Also on duty for the evacuation were pathologists from the Police and state government, who were expected to carry out autopsy on some of the bodies retrieved.

A check further reveals that the state government has started supplying water to the residents of Amansea, who hitherto depended on the polluted Ezu River for their routine water needs. Some articulated vehicle water tankers were stationed in strategic areas in Amansea, supplying water to the needy people. The State Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Mrs Azuka Enemuo, confirmed the evacuation exercise and water supply.

“We will commence drilling of boreholes on Monday to further ameliorate the water plights of the community.”

However, residents of the two neighbouring communities have raised concerns about the health consequences of allowing the corpses to pollute the river, which they depend on for domestic use and economic activities.

Chief Benjamin Onwuneme, a resident of Amansea, said the people depended on the river for a number of economic activities, including fishing and sand excavation.

-------THIS DAY, January 21, 2013

Police arrest principal, teacher for student's death

The student was flogged to death for failing to do her assignment

A teacher and the school principal accused of inflicting injuries believed to have led to the death of a student, Chidimma Ukachukwu, have been arrested by the Anambra Police Command.

The duo, Njideka Imoka and Phil Odenigbo, are staff of St. John of God Secondary School, Awka.

The spokesman of the command, Ralph Uzoigwe, announced the arrest at a news conference in Awka on Wednesday.

Uzoigwe said that after the arrest, the principal and the teacher were taken to Central Police Station, Awka, for interrogation and subsequent detention.

The teacher, Imoka, admitted flogging the deceased alongside other students for failing to do an assignment.

She added that it was much later that she was alerted by other students that the girl was not feeling well and that she was rushed to Regina Caeli Hospital, Awka, where she died.

Addressing journalists, the Deputy Senate President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, South East zone, Nwachukwu Okpalaoka, described Ukachukwu's death as unfortunate.

Okpalaoka said it was the association that asked the state’s Commissioner for Education, Uju Okeke, to close the school, following the death of the girl, as a mark of respect.

......IKECHUKWU ONYEKWERE/DAILY TIMES, OCTOBER 25, 2012

Interview: Ojukwu Never Repeated His Instructions - Orderly

Geoffrey Anyanwu, Awka - Daily Sun Exclusive Interview

Sixty-five-year-old Elder Chief Godwin Okeke-Ejim was the Police Orderly to the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu for three years when he was Head of State of Biafra till the day he left the shores of Nigeria to Ivory Coast (now Cote d’Ivoire).

In this exclusive interview with Saturday Sun at his Enugu residence, Elder Ejim confessed that he felt terribly bad on hearing the news of the death of his former boss, saying, “My father died, my mother died I did not shed tears, but when Ojukwu died, I shed tears.

Elder Ejim, who hails from Ugbawka in Nkanu East Local of Enugu State, was 25 when he started working with Ojukwu. The orderly revealed some intimate aspects of Ojukwu including the fact that the late Ikemba never repeated his instructions.
He also graphically related a day Ojukwu had a brush with death. Excerpts:

Posting to Ojukwu

I served as a police officer and retired in 1978. I came to serve Ojukwu in 1967 till the last day he departed to Ivory Coast in 1970 as his personal and police orderly. I was so close in a way that he trusted me so much. We were seven of us slated. We didn’t know why we were called, because in the police force, we had a routine called Daily Order. We go there every evening to pick or know where you may go or about anything at all that might concern you. In the course of that day, we read the Daily Order; we were seven short-listed sergeants and it said we had to prepare for special duties tomorrow morning and to report to Commissioner of Police’s office by 8 o’clock. The Commissioner of Police of the Eastern Region then was P. I. Okeke, now late. When we assembled, seven of us that day, around 10 o’clock, the Commissioner of Police arrived and addressed us. He said: “Well, I’m tired of sending orderlies to Col. Ojukwu. Each time, none serves up to one month to three months before he comes back for one accusation or the other”, that now, he was taking all of us to go and see him in his office at the State House. Whoever he picks, it’s his luck because this was a man that when his name is mentioned, you begin to shiver.

We were driven to that place from the Police Headquarters, Enugu to what is now the Orthopedic Hospital where we had the State House. We got to that place around 11a.m. Ojukwu arrived. We were marched before him as he sat down and when we lined up, they introduced us and he looked from left to right and immediately he pointed at me and said, “You, come out, the rest can go”. That was the verdict. Every other person left in jubilation. I didn’t know how I felt, it was a mixed feeling but I thank God. He told the ADC, who was the Major, to tell me what to do. He told me exactly why others left; that I am the 7th person now, that I should look very sharp because I am serving him directly.

His job

From there, the job started. The next thing he did by the time he was retiring by 6pm in the evening was that he gave me one key to the office and said: “Look, I am having one key to this office and I am giving you one. So, make sure that nothing leaks, make sure that no information leaks from my office and that nothing is being searched for, otherwise…” he nodded. I said that by the grace of God that nothing will go amiss. So, he said okay. He didn’t even ask me questions about where I come from. We have worked for almost two to three years before one day he asked me: “Where do you come from, Edwin?” He calls me Edwin instead of Godwin and I said, from Ugboka.

Our movement from Enugu started when Enugu fell. We were the last to move. He likes truth and he likes cleanliness. He told me that whenever he calls me, I should be at least one yard away from him; that he need not be shouting to me. I agreed and I maintained that. Even if he was in a meeting and you know he always stays at the extreme, once I hear him through the signs he made electronically, I will march and go there, greet him and then he will give me the instructions.

It so happened that, throughout my service with him, he trusted me and I maintained it. The instructions made me to deny every other association with everybody even friends. He gave the instruction, I feed from the kitchen; they give me food three times or as much as possible because I wouldn’t have time to go to my house to do anything. I prepare, anytime he goes out or has occasion to wear military uniform, I do it because the ordinary squad wouldn’t starch it well or do maintaining because this is what I was trained for as a policeman. I maintained my own uniforms. As the war developed, I wouldn’t go to war because I was not a war cabinet member but he made sure that every other domestic matter, I take care of them, he instructs me and he never repeats his instructions. He was very strict. He liked me so much that, throughout three years, he never for one day scolded me; he never scolded me at all, having learnt what made others to be brought back. Even as I was there, my promotion ran up to the ASP within the war period. I was promoted. You know, after the war, you have to abandon your old rank and go back.

The man Ojukwu

He was a man who loved work more than anything; that is why, when I got to hear that his eyes were bad, I knew exactly that he overstressed his eyes even though I’m not a doctor. He was always reading, he was writing always, he was always there buried in books. Imagine a man who read in Oxford, obtained a Master’s degree and everyday he was there – day and night – holding series of meetings, writing, doing all these and giving out instructions. So, the much I can remember is that we worked very cordially as much as I could and the family members all know me. I know the mother, the father; I got to know him when he died at Nkalagu. That was where he passed on. Maybe he didn’t want to be carried overseas because the money was there. I liken Ojukwu to Jesus Christ because he was a man who obtained his degrees from overseas and shunned every other work only to join army and in the army, he proved beyond every reasonable doubt that he liked the job.

He rose very well in rank and because of his love for the Igbo people, he denied himself of everything and later became Head of State of Biafra as mandated by the people then. You can imagine how he ran that war, using everything; I think he might even have used his father’s money. But what I’m sure of is that he used every opportunity he had to see that the war progressed, aimed at making his goal to be achieved by establishing the Republic of Biafra. But due to the fact that so many things were against him, it had to be abandoned. You know Jesus came into this world, abandoning the best things God set for Him in heaven only to come and suffer and die for us. So the man, Odumegwu Ojukwu, picked that attribute of Jesus because, with his wealth and his father’s wealth, he needed not suffer for us at all. He was as a sacrificial lamb, which people are now realizing. In fact, his actions tended to stabilize Nigeria, otherwise it would have been a different matter. I don’t condemn him for the actions taken, otherwise you and I would not have been talking. We would have been decimated long ago.

Close shave with death

I met him when he was just three months old as the administrator of the Eastern Region. Everything was going normal until the Biafran was declared. That time, we never slept again. The moment Biafran nation was declared, there was no rest for him; there was no rest again for anybody serving him. Wherever he was, I will be at the door. I screen anybody entering to see him. You do not enter unless I announce you and before then, I must have searched you and announced you and he said okay, come immediately or give me five minutes to finish up. I took up security at the doorpost before you go to meet him.

We were close to death on one particular day due to aircraft bombing. We would have perished at Madonna, Mbano area because that very day, during the heat of the bombing mission by the Nigerian aircraft, we were there. He was interviewing people and doing his normal duties, suddenly an aircraft zoomed in around 12 noon. When the aircraft came, myself and the security officers zoomed into his office because the canon fires were too close, even the aircraft bombed the Mercedes car with which we arrived. I know exactly that it was targeting us and the car was very close to the office. We pushed him (Ojukwu) down and all of us lay on him as protection but when this aircraft became desperate and the bombing became intense, we remembered there was a temporary bunker. We said, let’s go into the bunker and he reluctantly rose up and we walked into the bunker. The moment the last of us entered the bunker, there was darkness everywhere. His table, chairs, books and documents, which were on the table where he was working, all got shattered and burnt. That could have been a calamity. This happened at Madonna near Isieke, Mbano in the present Imo State.

That was the only close shave with death I witnessed by myself and you know that whatever happened to him that time will affect us. I wouldn’t have been here with you by now. That was the day I shivered. When we came out, there were so many casualties. I remembered that one European came to our office in the name of offering relief few days before the attack, I suspected him. It was when the aircraft took the first dive; it was so low that I noticed his face. We didn’t know that he came to sabotage us and it was less than a week. He was an Egyptian pilot because it was a Russian-made aircraft that could have destroyed us, but we thank God really. That was an incident that was touching.
The next one was when Ugwuta was falling; he (Ojukwu) went there too. I was there and he was at the war front. He taught me how to load HMG. Until water bomb finished our cars there, the cars we took there, we had to retreat. We came back in the night with another car. The man suffered. He took strange actions, which a Head of State wouldn’t even take. So, these were the sacrifices he made. It would have been a tragic event for us.

Lessons from Ojukwu

You know, he is not a relation, he is not a friend, and my approach with him was always instructional. You do this, you go there, and so, we have no social contact. He was a man who didn’t drink. He takes coffee and by then he was a chain-smoker. 555, that’s what he takes. He never tasted alcohol and he wasn’t eating too much. He never told me anything that was not instructional or related to my duties. He kept me at a distance and I kept him at a distance, knowing that there were other people ahead of me and his immediate brothers who he could always converse with.

Ojukwu’s departure

We sojourned longer at Umuahia. We got disorganized. We even ran to Ogwa in now Mbaitoli Local Government of Imo State in the house of Iheanacho. After about a day or two, we moved to Nnewi and that was in January. The last day, all the dignitaries you can think of in this Biafran setup, they all went in and held a meeting. I don’t usually stay in their meetings, I can’t be there. I will be at the corridor. Eventually, that meeting held for a whole day; from morning till around 1 O’clock in the night. Suddenly, vehicles were set up, heading for Uli Airport. I normally sat in the front to open the door and close it as an orderly. On getting to Uli, it was just like a market, filled with people with a very large plane; Super Consolation, stationed. He entered with most of these dignitaries that went out with him and I realized he was leaving.

Before the door of the aircraft was shut, he sent somebody to the door of the aircraft to say I should come in. I replied to that man to tell him that I didn’t know we were leaving here. That, in fact, I cannot enter the plane. If my wife had been around or if I had known that it was a movement of that nature, I would have joined him to fly. That was the last I saw him and that was the end of my service to him. That was also the end of the war. Since then, I was communicating with his brothers and at a certain time; they wanted me to come to Ivory Coast because when they come, they would say they want that honest orderly.

Yes, that’s what they branded me honest orderly. They came to my house and said my master wanted me to come to Ivory Coast; that there is a job I will do for him. I told them that my family has expanded and that I can’t just be moving like that. They needed me then but I said no because I know it was either to take care of some of his businesses there or things like that.

Ojukwu’s return

When he returned around 1983, I went to him. He was happy. He received me and asked me to take lunch with him. When it was announced that that orderly came, he left every other thing, came and embraced me. He said I shouldn’t go until I take lunch and I obeyed. You know, he was not a person you visit anyhow without having something serious. He was down-to-earth, he likes you to come but the duty of the work wasn’t really giving him the chance to be receiving people anyhow because he was not a man you go to gossip to about anything. He was a very intelligent man. I later became President of the Customary Court; writing and doing other court duties. I saw him when he was at Hill view area this Independence Layout. There was a day he was passing through this area, eventually he stopped at a suya spot. I raced to that place and called him ‘master.’ He said ‘orderly.’ He came down and we embraced. People converged and were surprised. After asking about my welfare and family, he bought what he wanted to buy and left. He was a very brave man. When he went into politics, people were skeptical about his involvement in politics. When you have your facts at your fingertips and you know that God is with you, you can go to your enemies’ camp and come out. He will tell you the reality; he will tell you exactly what happens.

After Ojukwu’s depature

Immediately he left, there was order for me to return to police. I rejoined police and I got resposted like every other person. Along the line in 1970, I was in Lagos where I was posted, I attended an interview on two occasions and I was confronted with “you served the rebel”. They threw the accusation to me during Board members promotion interview in 1976 because we used to have annual Board Interview. I said how, sir? The then Commissioner of Police said, “look at your picture with Ojukwu.” I said, “yes, I served him, sir, but I was there on posting. I did not apply for it.” He said but why didn’t you refuse it? I said that if I declined it, I would be declared a saboteur; that was why I had to be there. I didn’t apply.

In 1977, they confronted me in Lagos again when I went, “you are a rebel agent” and I told them I didn’t apply. I was on posting by the Commissioner of Police then, later IG. So, there was noting I could do. My situation was defenceless. Immediately after that interview, I planned to leave before I would be dismissed, because there were people who could take action against you. I had to quit the force at least to have a good record that I wasn’t dismissed. Till today, I get my pension with the little rank that I held, otherwise by then, I was having more than 15 years to serve and by then I would have risen but today, I thank God, its no longer an issue.
So, that ended my career abruptly. I didn’t think of it, there were no consultations. I said why should I be defending one thing, instead of asking me questions on my police duties, why do you then come to blackmail me? I can’t defend what is indefensible and I thank God because now, I’m not indebted to anybody. God has blessed my family. I have children and almost all of them are now graduates and they are doing well. It’s God who leads. He provided and He makes provisions for my children.

News of his demise

I saw the news of his demise as I was watching CNN. I saw only that Odumegwu Ojukwu, the Biafran leader is dead. The spoon with which I was taking my jollof rice, I didn’t know when I dropped it on the ground instead of the table, I dropped it on the ground. I shivered. I felt it to the marrow of my bones. I thought he would have made it. I never expected his death now. I did not; if he had been in Nigeria, maybe but in overseas? No. But I am praying that God never abandons him in His kingdom. When Jesus came, He liberated the oppressed, He gave the blind sight, Ojukwu followed that example, he liberated the oppressed. Igbos are being desecrated, I was there; from time to time, we will go to the airport to receive corpses during the pogrom. He had the mind to carry the people, unshaken for that period of three years. God didn’t want him to go beyond this.

So, I thank God for his soul because God will not abandon him because His ways are not our ways, His plans are not our plans, His thoughts are not our thoughts. It’s there in the Bible; people might condemn you but God will not do so. God is a powerful God and He gave him the chance to do all these things. He could have been eliminated during the war, but no, he did as a human being, Jesus is a Spirit. I’m only sorry that much time was not given to him so that he would eventually live to see more progress in Nigeria.