…3 yrs after family paid N10m ransom
BY HENRY UMAHI (kinghenrysun@yahoo.com)
Until August 2012, the family of Emenike Ihekwaba, an architect and permanent secretary and principal secretary in Imo deputy governor’s office, life was like was heaven on earth. Love and happiness radiated in the home even as goals were set and accomplishments made. In fact, it could be said that the technocrat and his wife, Dr Chinyere Ihekwaba, a lecturer, were on honeymoon for almost 25 years. They were simply inseparable.
Take this from Lady Chinyere: “Ours was a very beautiful home with very well behaved children. There was no place my husband went to that I didn’t accompany him. He was everything to me. I didn’t have a sister, Emenike is my sister. He is my father, my brother, my friend, my love, my adviser and my secretary. He was behind my success. He allowed me to do everything. He set up my business for me. He practically organized my life. I didn’t have a father, he came and became everything. He is husband to my mother, father and son to her.”
Three years ago, tragedy of gargantuan proportion hit the family. And all has not been the same and may never be again. The joy and happiness in the home of the Ihekwabas snapped on August 26, 2012 when the head of the family was abducted in commando style, by heavily armed men at a market. The family coughed out N10 million and three bottles of Hennessy as ransom to the abductors but he is yet to be seen. Earlier in 2009, the first son was abducted for eight days and the family paid N1 million ransom to the bandits, who also made away with valuables.
How it happened
Recently, Lady Chinyere narrated to the reporter in her home in Owerri, the chilling story of her husband’s disappearance. Intermittently, she broke down in tears as she spoke. In fact, the interview was interrupted several times as she was overwhelmed with emotions. Hear her: “On August 26, 2012, my husband and I set out to attend two functions. The first one was an ordination thanksgiving of a priest, who was ordained in Nkwerre and he made us his sponsors but we were not around. Because we were not around during the ordination, we said that we should attend the thanksgiving in Mbano. There was also a child dedication by Hon Obinna who represented Nkwerre in the last House of Assembly. These were the two functions we set out for that morning. We left from our house here in Owerri that morning and joined the thanksgiving service at Awka – Ugiri. At exactly noon, we left the church after giving what we had. On getting to Amaraku, we stopped as we usually did to buy goat meat because my husband likes goat meat pepper soup. As we got there, we called the boy selling the meat and told him we were around. We parked the car by the side of the road and my husband stepped out. I was inside the car with the driver. He came back with the boy and the boy dropped the meat in front of the car. My own door was open because the car engine was switched off. As he was about opening his own door and I closing mine, a white SUV parked in front of us and three hefty men wearing bullet proof vests with the inscription ‘Police’ and carrying heavy guns came out.
“When I saw them come out, I asked myself what we did. I wondered if we did not park properly or committed any traffic offence. Then two of them rushed to my husband’s side and one of them came to my side. So, he opened the door, probably to know what they came for. I guess maybe my husband realised that they were not policemen because of the way they rushed to him, so he asked me to run. Like the typical Igbo woman, I wore two georgette wrappers with my headgear. But when he asked me to run, it was as if something lifted me off the ground. Somehow I sneaked through under the arm of the one standing by my door side and started running.
“Immediately I took the first few steps, they started shooting. Actually, I thought they were shooting at me and I was ready for the bullets. As I was running and they were shooting, I noticed pandemonium in the market and everywhere. There were some women having August meeting at one end and everybody started running. It was rainy season, so I was falling and getting up because the ground was slippery. One of my wrappers fell off and my shoes fell off too. Eventually, I saw a room that was open and ran inside. It was an experience I don’t want to remember.
“I ran into that room, wondering what was happening. I sat on the cane bed I saw in the room. I was shaking all over; I didn’t know what happened to my husband. I didn’t know what happened to the driver also because I was running. After awhile, we didn’t hear gunshots again and the place was calm. A woman came into the room and asked if I was with the man in the car. I asked her where he was and she told me that they had forced him into the boot of their vehicle and taken him away. Then I started wailing; I ran out from the room and looked around. That was when I noticed that the tyres of our car had been deflated. I was so confused; I didn’t know what to do. My bag fell off when I was running and my phone was inside in the bag. Some women gathered around me and brought a chair for me to sit by the road. As I was sitting there thinking of what to do, I saw one boy carrying my bag. He brought it to me. I opened the bag and saw my phone. I started calling my brother-in-law because I knew that all of them were at Nkwerre for that function. My brother-in-law asked me where I was and I told him and he said I should wait there.”
She spoke further: “Before they came, one man whose car tyres were also deflated told me that my driver ran towards the police station. In fact, they deflated the tyres of all the vehicles parked within the vicinity. After some time, some policemen came and started asking me questions. The man who told me that my driver ran towards the police station rebuked them, asking why they should be throwing questions at me in that condition. They even said they would take me to the police station but the man said no.
“Incidentally, that man knows my husband, so he refused to allow them take me to the police station. So they decided to take the driver with the vehicle even with all the tyres deflated. Somebody brought me back to Owerri while my brother-in-law went to the police station. While they were there, according to my brother-in-law, they said that somebody called from the Government House, Owerri and asked the policemen to release the driver. That’s the story.”
Effort to find him
Narrating the efforts made by the family to find her husband, the grieving woman said: “Initially, we thought it was an ordinary case of kidnapping, so we began to wait. I had experienced it in 2009 when my first son was kidnapped for
robbing us in the house, they took my son away for eight days. It was hell for me. After negotiating with them, we paid N1 million and they released him. So, we thought it was the same thing; we waited for them to call. I think after two days they called and we started negotiating. eight days from my house. After
“In fact, the way they were calling I wasn’t fit at all because each time they called my heart skipped some beats. So, my brother-in-law took the phone from me and negotiated with them. Eventually, they said we should pay N10 million. Initially, they had asked for N40 million and we told them that he is a civil servant and could not raise that kind of money.
“We reported to the Government House. We reported to the then Deputy Governor, Sir Jude Agbaso. Two days after it happened, the then Secretary to the State Government, Prof Anthony Anwuka and the Director of Protocol came to my house and asked me questions. They gave me one phone number and said whenever the abductors called or something came up I should call the number. So, when they called me, I would call the number they gave me. But it was like anytime my brother-in-law talked with the people holding my husband, someone would tell them what we said or the discussions we were having. We began to wonder how what we said here would be relayed to the people holding my husband. The people would tell us what we said and anyone who came to my house. Really, it was a difficult situation for us.
“After negotiations, they gave us 48 hours to raise N10 million. Friends and relatives started contributing. My colleagues at Alvan Ikoku were involved; I had to borrow money here and there. Eventually, we got up to that amount and they said that we should put in three bottles of Hennessy in the package. I didn’t know the drink; I never heard about the drink before. So, we started looking for three bottles of Hennessy. We got the drinks and they liaised with my brother-in-law on how he would deliver the money to them. Eventually, he took the money to them at Ogbaku area towards Izombe. After collecting the N10 million from him, they told him to go to Obinze and wait for the brother (my husband).
“That day was my worst day. Everybody was in the house waiting – my mother, sisters’ in-law. Around 6pm, my brother-in-law called and said that the abductors asked him to go. I asked him, what does that mean? He was there from 11am till around 6pm. So, we asked him to wait some more, to see if my husband would come out. He stayed there and when it was getting late, we asked him to return. That was the worst day in my life. There was nothing we didn’t think about. The whole excitement evaporated. I had prepared pepper soup, we prepared where he was going to stay with medics. That was the worst day in my life; my sister-in-law nearly fainted. We couldn’t understand what was happening. We waited; we kept praying, believing God for a miracle. People were coming, prayers were being said and vigils held. There is no type of pastor that hasn’t come here. Churches have come here. Civil servants and even people who didn’t know us were coming, keeping vigil.
“On September 6, 2012, I saw one missed call. When you try to pick, it will go off but eventually they called my brother-in-law. I don’t remember what he said they told him. That was the last time we heard from them. From that day, September 6, till today, no contact, nobody has been talking to me. We went to the governor at a point, pleading with him to help. He told me that if they called again, we should promise them N1 million. Then the person that took me to him asked him to give us the money to keep so that if the abductors called, there won’t be need coming to the Government House again. No money was given. Ever since then nobody has told me if Emenike is alive or not. My children and I have gone through hell. If not for the grace of God, I don’t know where we would have been. I don’t know the person who will bring us out of this.”
Asked if she ever spoke to her husband from the day he was abducted, Lady Chinyere said: “When we were negotiating, they used to put him on line and he would ask me if we had raised the money. He even asked me to meet the Head of Service and collect his retirement benefit. You could hear the voice of the background, prodding him. So, we went to the Head of Service and he said that those who had retired were yet to be paid and we were talking about someone still in service. He said it was not possible to get such money. He sent me to the bank to get a loan but the bank said that he should come and sign for the loan. During that period, if the abductors said they would call in the morning, they would instead call at night or the next day. The last we heard his voice was on September 6.”
How are the kids coping with the development, Sunday Sun sought to know? Her answer: “It is very difficult, to say the least. At the time this thing happened, my two daughters were writing their final exams in the university. One was writing her Law exam and my first daughter was writing her final Optometry exam. By God’s grace, they all made it; they graduated and both of them are serving the nation now under the NYSC programme. My two sons have gained admission into the university and their father doesn’t know. My two daughters got married because we felt their lives must go on, it is better that their daddy comes home, to see us progressing than rather stand still. My first daughter’s traditional marriage has been done and the church wedding will be held in November so that the children will move on in life.
“My first daughter who is very close to the father nearly ran mad but God has kept us. By God’s grace, my husband laid a foundation on Jesus Christ. We believe in God and the Bible says that they that put their trust in Him will never be put to shame and He has continued to uphold us. I have used the word of God to keep my children. We have some good friends and relatives who have stood by us. We are just living by grace. It is not easy. Anywhere I go, the memory keeps coming. Every Sunday, the church remembers my husband in prayer; he is a truly committed Christian. There is no day I go to church without crying. Sometimes I refuse to go; I don’t attend functions because any time you go something will remind you. I’m just asking for grace, daily, because that is what I live on. If he is dead, let them bring him to us and we will bury him. Everyday, you get news of dead bodies found, where is Emenike’s own? If he is dead, let them bring him back to me; we will bury him and our minds will rest. We will look at his grave and say, there lies our daddy. After all, my father died when I just left secondary school. The experience alone spurred me on and made me what I am today in life. But this one is different. All I know is that as long as there is God in heaven, the mystery about the disappearance of my husband will be made known no matter how long it takes. Nothing is hidden forever. Emenike cannot disappear like that without a trace. One day, the truth must surely come out. The other day, I met one permanent secretary and the man told me that civil servants are still crying for my husband up till now. My husband is a fine gentleman, an honest person, a practising Christian, a clean Nigerian loved by many, very jovial and a wonderful father.”
How are his siblings taking it? Lady Chinyere said: “Everybody is hurting. It has not been easy for them as well. But what do we do? All we ask for is grace.”
Gently prodded further on whether the husband ever mentioned to her that he had any problem with anybody, she said: “It is a long story; I don’t even want to go into that. But all I know is that God will reveal everything one day. If you are not doing what is right, my husband will challenge you. That is just his life. If you are not doing what is morally right, he will challenge you. At a point, they sidetracked him, he didn’t know what was happening in the office. In fact, when they were doing what they were doing, my husband will just be reading his Bible because they don’t involve him. A year before this thing happened, there was a day he told me that he wanted to resign and I asked him why. It was like he was just there; a permanent secretary not involved in anything. They didn’t tell him anything. He said that he was just too bored and wanted to resign. I told him that he had just one more year to go, and asked why he would throw in the towel? I encouraged him to stay on that he was already in the last lap. If I knew it was going to end like this…
“Well, only God knows. I’m still paying debts but God has been so faithful. The word of God is so real to me now. When I pray, ‘give us this day our daily bread’ that is exactly what God is doing for my children and I. Once there is a bridge before me, He will carry me over once I get there. I’ve learnt to trust God more than ever and He has not failed me. And I know He will not fail us. My children are all trying; everybody is working hard because I keep telling them that they have to work to accomplish what they promised their father they want to be. I always urge and encourage them to keep working towards his goal and aspiration. Who knows one day he will come to join us. He is not somebody that can just disappear like that without any trace. Ours was a very beautiful home with very well behaved children. There was no place he went that I didn’t accompany him. He was everything to me. I don’t have a sister; Emenike is my sister. He is my father, my brother, my friend, my love, my adviser and my secretary. When I was writing my doctorate thesis and my reports, he went through them. Even when I’m given letters to write at work, I will write what I can and give him, and he will reconstruct them. He was behind my success. He allowed me to do everything. He set up a business for me. In fact, he organized my life. I didn’t have a father, but he came and became everything to me. He is husband to my mother as well as father and son to her.”
Asked to confirm whether the state government offered to make her a permanent secretary on compassionate grounds, Lady Chinyere told Sunday Sun: “What happened was that the SSG called and said the government wanted to make me a permanent secretary. But how can I sit on that seat, answering that name? I said I didn’t want it. All I want is my husband; let me know what has happened. If we had a closure, it would have been okay. But there was no closure, how could I sit there? No, I couldn’t just sit there.”
Have they paid his entitlements? “No. Not at all! I have been making efforts but they said there is no money. I have contacted the accountant general but they said there was no money. He would have retired in January 2014 when he would have turned 60. We had planned for that year because I was going to be 50 and he, 60. We were planning to have a big thanksgiving with two graduates in the family, his retirement, his 60th birthday, my 50th birthday and 25 years anniversary of our marriage. We were planning this together but it never came to be. We wedded in 1989,” she said, her eyes filled again with tears.