A 38-year-old woman, Ujunwa Ezeonuogwu, tells IKENNA OBIANERI how her brother’s disappearance since he was allegedly whisked away by security operatives at his friend’s house on April 24, 2022, has affected her and other siblings
How old are you and what do you do for a living?
I am 38 years old; I am an artisan and also into trading. I am from Achina in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State. I am married with children.
It was reported that your brother was arrested by security agents about a year ago, but you do not know his whereabouts up till now. Can you narrate how it happened?
It is very true. It happened on Sunday, April 24, 2022, but I got to know about it on Tuesday, April 26, 2022. I had called him that Sunday morning and begged him to use his motorcycle to fetch water for me, and he agreed. However, I waited for him for several hours and he did not return to the house. So, my children and I went to church. It was while I was in the church that he called me and when I took the call, he told me that he was at my house and that everywhere was locked. I told him to go and come back later in the evening because we were in the church. When I came back from the church later in the evening, I called his line several times, but he did not take his calls.
Were you told he was missing before you started looking for him?
No! Nobody told me. I called his telephone line because of the errand I wanted him to run for me.
When did you get to know he was arrested?
I repeated calls to his telephone line again on Monday, there was still no response. I could not go to his house because of the sit-at-home and on Tuesday, I called his line again; this time, it had stopped connecting. So, I set out to where he leaves at Ekwulobia on Tuesday, but when I got there, I did not find him at home. It was after every effort to locate him proved abortive that I traced him to one of his closest friend’s house at a nearby community, also in Ekwulobia. The name of his friend is Maduabuchi. It was when I got to their house that I was told what happened.
What actually happened?
I was told he was arrested.
Where was he arrested?
He was arrested at his friend’s house. I was also told that he was arrested along with two of his friends and one other person.
How did you get to know this?
The family members of one of those arrested, the neighbours and particularly one Point of Sale operator around the vicinity narrated the whole story to me.
What did they tell you happened?
I was told that some heavily armed security men in black vests with RRS (Rapid Response Squad) written on it came in a Toyota Sienna vehicle and raided the community that afternoon, after which they took three boys away and my brother happened to be one of them. The PoS operator narrated to me that it was after my brother and his friend had gone to make use of a bank’s ATM in the community that the security operatives trailed both of them untill they finally picked them at his friend’s house and in the presence of his parents and sister. Both of them were said to have gone to the bank in my brother’s motorcycle.
Did they tell you why the security operatives arrested them and where they took them to?
No tangible reason was given. Those who saw the scenario said the security operatives claimed they were looking for another person, but as they did not see the person they claimed they were looking for, they went with the people they met. The father of my brother’s friend later explained to me that the security operatives said they were looking for his first son, who is a native doctor and when they did not find him at home, they went with his second son whom they saw at home together with my brother and another person they met in their sitting room that day, and till today, we have yet to set our eyes on any of them.
How old is your brother and what is his name?
His name is Obinna Eze. He is 34 years old; we are five in number and he is the second to the last child.
What work does he do?
He is a house builder, a building contractor.
Is he married?
Not yet.
How often do you communicate with each other before his whereabouts became unknown?
We call each other very often; in fact, it is a routine for the five of us that are siblings to call each other twice every week. But this particular period, before his whereabouts became unknown, even the four of us were calling his line simultaneously, but there was no response from him.
Are your parents aware of the situation?
Our father is late. My mother became ill the moment the news got to her, and we have been managing her situation since then. We have refused to let her know that her son is still missing in order not to aggravate her condition. We only tell her that he is fine and okay each time she asks. The situation has not been easy for us.
What efforts have you made to look for him so far?
We have searched all the police stations in Anambra State, and we did not see him. It is only the Akwuzu Police Station that we have not gone to because we heard that the place is a no-go area.Parents of his friend, in whose house he was arrested, had gone to Akwuzu Police Station, but they were told that his son and others were not there. When we tracked his telephone line some time ago, the tracker indicated that the telephone was at a location in a bush at Nteje, which is near the Awkuzu Police Station, but we could not go there because that place is a dangerous place to go without adequate security. We asked the police to go with us, to see if we could locate the telephone or other things, but they refused to provide us with security. That bush is a very dangerous place, and it is believed that it is the place where corpses of victims of police extrajudicial killings are dumped.
Have you officially drawn the attention of the police authorities to the matter?
We have written series of petitions to the Anambra State Police Command, even the Zone 13 Headquarters, nothing has been done. Recently, we were advised by some lawyers to write a petition to the Inspector General of Police, but we have yet to do so because of the distraction of the elections.
Are you optimistic that your brother is still alive and will be found one day?
I still believe that my brother is still alive; my faith tells me so. We just want the police authorities to investigate this matter and let us know the true position of things.
How has your brother’s absence affected you and your siblings?
Life has not remained the same with me and my other siblings. Who will be happy that her brother has been missing for a year now without any trace? Life has been very horrible. Often times, we visit the hospital because of my mother’s condition; the situation (her missing son) left her with high blood pressure, which has become both financial and physical burden on us. The thought that one’s child has been missing alone puts one down. It has been very traumatic for us.
When was the last time you saw him before his absence?
I saw him a week before the incident happened.
What was your last discussion with him?
He had complained about shortage of manpower at his place of work and how it is slowing down the construction he was currently handling. He lamented that the youths no longer want to do such job as they now prefer to be riding tricycles and motorcycles for transport.
You said your brother rode on his motorcycle to his friend’s house on the day he was arrested. What about the motorcycle?
I did not see the motorcycle. They said the security operatives also took it away with them. One of them rode the motorcycle and followed the others who were in the Toyota Sienna vehicle as they whisked my brother away.
What about the family members of those that were taken along with your brother that day?
All the affected families are together looking for their own. We have made a lot of efforts but to no avail.
What are you asking the police authorities to do?
That is why I am begging the police authorities to look into this matter for us, so that we can know the true position of things. My brother is an innocent and easy-going person; even his neighbours can testify to that. I don’t know why the police picked him close to a year now and no official reasons have been given. If they came to arrest someone else as they claimed and did not find the person, was it proper for them to now pick innocent people that did not know anything? These are the things the police should explain to us, and we are begging them to look into this matter for us and save my family from this trauma. We are begging the Inspector General of Police to look into our plight.
