Sabella Ogbobode Abidde once said “In Nigeria, more so in the last 30 years, killing has become a way of life. Depending on the regime in power, killings can either be a past time or a trade.”
The government and or some elements within the Nigerian State, has been killing those they hate, envy or are tired of. For instance, when the Nigerian government didn’t know what to do with Dele Giwa, they blew him up.
When they didn’t know what to with Ken Saro-Wiwa, they cooked up phony charges and then hanged him.
When Alfred Rewane was becoming a thorn on their flesh, they silenced him. Along with these eminent citizens are dozens of unsung Nigerians who were also murdered by the state or by individuals within the state.
The breaking news that greeted Imo State on August 12, 2012 was the gruesome murder of Pastor Emmanuel Adoba. He was Special Adviser (Administration) to the Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly, Benjamin Uwajumogu. Adoba was mercilessly butchered by agents of darkness right in his house after they had tied the members of his family hands and legs. Having gunned him down, the hoodlums reportedly used sharp matchets to dismember his body into pieces.
A month after Adoba’s death, an aide of the Speaker in Protocol Department by name Chidi was also murdered in cold blood. Barely two years after the death of the two young men, Adoba’s successor, Hon. Kingsley Nkemka was also assassinated by unknown gunmen. He was shot dead along Nworie-ubi- Mbieri Road in Mbaitoli LGA.
Nkemka was said to have gone to the village to settle pending financial obligations and was returning back to Owerri when his vehicle was surrounded by five motorcycles. All five assassins were said to have opened fire at the same time and disappeared when they were convinced their victim had been eliminated.
Until his gruesome death, Nkemka, like his predecessor, Adoba, was also one of the most trusted aides of the Speaker. Till today, the Imo police have yet to successfully resolve their murder.
This year, Chief Tony Onyekele alias “Talk na Do”, a member of the Imo House of Assembly Service Commission was also murdered . He too was one of the most trusted men of the Imo Speaker.
I wonder if any murder case has ever been conclusively and satisfactorily resolved in Imo.In June 2014 Samuelson Iwuoha a former media aide to Uwajumogu escaped assassination. Samuelson complained that Uwajumogu threatened to kill him for exposing his shady deals.
Could it be that Pastor Adoba , Chidi , Nkemka and Talk Na Do also saw the dirty deals that Samuelson exposed? Nothing is impossible.
Samuelson told us that the Speaker stole 3 billion naira and used the proceeds of the crime to acquire several properties in Nigeria such as: N500 million naira Asphalt plant along Onitsha road Owerri, 15 mansions along Chief Ben Uwajumogu Street, Federal Housing Estate Umuguma Owerri – West LGA,Jasmine Hotels and Suites behind Imo Concorde Hotel valued at over N70 million, over 200 plots of land located in Owerri West LGA,N400million naira Mansion at Ihitte /Uboma,2 other mansions at Ihitte/Uboma,Mansions in Aba and Umuahia,N760 million naira Crush Rock Industry in Ebonyi State,N500 million naira private hotel in Abuja,N750 million naira private hotel in Lagos. Even the Imo State liason office in Abuja was sold to him for N70 million naira which he has since converted to his private hotel.
Uwajumogu allegedly sent boys to deal with Citizen Samuelson Iwuoha for exposing him and when his boys killed someone in Samuelson’s compound ,he framed him for murder and dumped him in prison since June 3 , 2014. The relatives of the deceased have since told the world that the activist has no hand in the death of their son but at the orders of Imo State government the Social Crusader is still in jail.
Although Mr Speaker has spent millions of naira trying to polish his battered image, many people still loathe him with unqualified contempt, and disdainfully dismiss him as one dirty evil man with ill-gotten wealth . Why will four aides working for him be murdered in just four years ? Who killed them? How many Imolites will have to lose their lives in Uwajumogu’s office before the Police will come to the realization that something is terribly wrong? Why do we have the police if police cannot assure us of our safety? Why do we have the Police if killers continue to go free.
Why do we have the police if killers are celebrated as politicians ? Killers cannot continue to walk as free men. Four aides of one man murdered in four years and the fifth escaped assassination and people are keeping quite. This man is jumping here and there seeking to become a senator. I don’t blame him , the truth is that anybody, in fact, any baboon can now become Senator in Imo. It is that simple! All it takes, is for the baboon to get one stupid INEC official to rig him in and then he starts the simple art of stuffing dirty bags with dirty naira notes . God is watching !
Kenneth Uwadi, Mmahu-Egbema, Imo State, Nigeria
