The leadership of Int’l Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety) has resolved to introduce the part 2 of the above titled public interest advocacy voice in Anambra State as part of our country-wide advocacy activities and search light beaming; all geared towards intensifying and consolidating our golden and revivalist contribution towards building a better society where the rich, the poor, the high and the low classes; and most importantly the generality of the downtrodden and the society shall live and thrive and bequeath at the end a sound and inhabitable environment for their succeeding generations and those yet unborn. Intersociety’s advocacy activities are at odd all the time with Thomas Hobbes’ animalistic human society where life is made militant, short, brutish, nasty and endangered on account of master-servant and brutish activities of malevolent rich and ruling classes.
Our advocacy boat once again is at the doorstep of troublesome billionaires and killer-“generals” in Anambra State; who have resurfaced in the State with reckless abandon and unleashed their nightmare and terror on the State and its defenceless citizens using their questionable wealth, government backing, black powers (on the part of killer-“generals”), militancy and public security establishments within and beyond the boundaries of Anambra State. It is also very important to inform all and sundry that in the course of our golden and revivalist advocacies, we do not give a damn or care to know whose ox is gored other than the societal wellbeing, collective growth and development.
The electronic media links to Part 1 of the public statement as titled above is HERE.
We had in first part of this publication, dated 12th May 2017, identified two major types or sets of troublesome citizens running riot on the State and its innocent public. We also traced their malevolent conducts to their stupendous but questionable wealth (troublesome billionaires) and militancy and black powers with government backing (killer-“generals”). In the course of their violent activities that are now taking toll on the State and its citizens, the two sets of troublesome citizens are inseparable by way of fuelling, sponsorship and execution of rampaging violent activities under complaint. Another killer-factor responsible for their master-slave and other crude behaviours lies on the fact that most of them did not go beyond primary school or First School Leaving Certificate and where any attempted secondary school education, then he or she dropped before JSS3.
Troublesome or violent billionaires of Anambra State are made up of those who became billionaires under questionable and controversial circumstances particularly through questionable public or government contract awards and executions. Some of them also became questionable billionaires through militancy profiteering, controversial management of government revenue windows and reckless and indiscriminate imposition and collection of illicit tolls as well as other fraudulent activities including laundering of government bad image among trading and touting populations or using their positions or quasi positions of authority to enrich themselves or gain favors and gratifications. Some of them also became questionable billionaires on account of liquidation, through fraudulent indebtedness, of banks and other financial institutions.
Such contracts questionably managed or executed by the troublesome billionaires are substantially, if not totally for key infrastructural and social developments of the Igbo Nation or any other region of Nigeria or beyond its shores. They include exploration or extraction and selling, in trust, of natural resources of Nigeria and other sovereign political territories in Africa (i.e. Congo DRC, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast etc). Some of them also engage in illicit and sometimes licit (government middlemen) arms trading particularly importation of Small Arms & Light Weapons (SALWs).
Examples of the said licitly or illicitly awarded contracts and their questionable executions are road contract, government house building contract, inter and intra State as well as inter and intra communal bridge contract; electrification and electricity contract and management; public health and school infrastructural contract, stadia contract, housing scheme contact, exploration and exportation of crude oil and gas contract, extraction and sale of diamond, gold and uranium contract, etc (i.e. in Congo DRC, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast), etc.
In other to protect their questionable billions or wealth and conduct-misdeeds, the said troublesome billionaires have turned themselves into “apologists of any government and its party in power” whether at the State or Federal level in Nigeria. Mr. Arthur Eze, for instance, has remained an unrepentant apologist of all successive governments and their parties particularly at the Federal level in Nigeria since his roles in the Abacha’s military inglorious epoch including his nursemaiding of Abacha’s “five fingers of a leprous hand” or five leprous political parties formed to facilitate late Gen Abacha’s transmogrification from military khaki to diarchy rulership; during which he (Eze) was quoted as saying that he is ready to die and get buried with Sani Abacha.
But he has not only lived till date but also participated in Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and Jonathan administrations. Under the present APC led Federal Government, he has again transmogrified; likewise in successive and current civilian administrations in Anambra State. Some say, he is now an APC chieftain in Anambra State. Mr. Godwin Okeke of GUO Group has remained a major player in Anambra security and politics since early 1990s or in the past 20yrs after he stepped down as President Gen of Onitsha Amalgamated Traders Association (OMATA). Mr. Okeke is another apologist of “any government and its party in power”; having featured prominently as a major “security” player in the past governments of Dr. CC Mbadinuju, Dr. Chris Ngige; vacuum-filled governments of Lady Virginia Etiaba and Mr. Emmanuel Ubah; as well as immediate past Government of Mr. Peter Obi administration. In the present Government of Mr. Willie Obiano, he has remained a key player in Anambra “security”.
Mr. Christian Ubah (ESELE) is another leading apologist of “any government and its party in power” both at the State and Federal levels from 1990s till date. He is yet to complete and deliver “the Anambra Government House Project” awarded to him by Dr. CC Mbadinuju since 1999/2000. The contract was negotiated under a strict term of “Irrevocable Standing Payment Order” or IPSO whereby N10Million then was being deducted monthly at source for the project from the State’s share of Federation Account revenues. Yet, over 17yrs till date, the project is yet to be completed and even if completed now, it can only best be used as a hostel for students of the Anambra State University Teaching Hospital, Amaku, Awka.
Also, despite many years of federal government’s links and connections, the Christian Ubah family and its stupendous wealth has nothing to show for Aguata People and their environs. The Agulu-Ekwulobia-Uga-Imo State and the Oba-Nnewi-Uga-Okigwe Federal Roads have been in tatters for over 14yrs; likewise the Nkwo-Uga-Obizi Stream Road that leads to the Ubah family’s ancestral house in Umuoru Village of Uga Community. Uga Community from where the Ubahs hail has just marked 100yrs of its Anglo-Uga War of 1917.
The trio of Emeka Offor, Ernest Obiejesi and Ifeanyi Ubah are also not different. Oraifite Community and its indigenes where Emeka Offor comes from are not without the heat of his wealth and troubles. Crises so generated have risen to an apogee with several criminal complaints by his antagonists and counter criminal complaints by his protagonists lodged at various police formations in Anambra, Umuahia and Abuja. Cases of communal/clan/kindred land disputes and allied disputes also abound; likewise the Igweship of Oraifite that has remained vacant for decades.
In Okija Community where Mr. Ernest Obiejesi (OBIJACKSON) hails from, the story is not different. Apart from walling off and cordoning his poor ancestral neighbors at his Ubahu Village House in Okija; forcing them to revert to the use of footpaths and backyards, Mr. Ernest Obiejesi is deeply fingered in several village land disputes particularly those of Ugheregbu and Umuzu villages in Okija; with most part of the disputed lands belonging to Ugheregbu Village of Okija Community.
Several petitions have been directed to the Government of Anambra State over the issue all to no avail while the Umuzu, which is now a community of its own, from Okija; has gone extra mile resulting in litigation at Ihiala State High Court. The case of Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah would have been worse if not that Nnewi where he comes from; also parades a region of billionaires like him; yet his negative footmarks are being felt by his fellow Nnewi indigenes and neighbors. Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah is also nicknamed “Mr. Slapper”; as he is said to slap people anyhow.
Totality of these explains why we identify these billionaires as troublesome or violent billionaires of Anambra State. Our main purpose of beaming our advocacy searchlight towards them; just as we have done to several others including public office holders at the State, LGA and Federal levels in Nigeria, is to get them changed their ways of life and turned to a new leaf by abandoning their master-slave and militancy lifestyles and becoming very useful, conscientious and responsible to their State, communities, fellow indigenes and generality of the Anambra downtrodden.
Apart from the roles of the named troublesome billionaires as unrepentant apologists of any government and its party in Nigeria and Anambra State in particular since the country’s last military’s inglorious epoch (1993-1998), they have also sought and secured the god-father roles to successive and current heads of strategic conventional security establishments in Anambra State; Police Zone 9 Command, Umuahia; 82nd Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu; and the Abuja headquarters of the said security establishments including those of the Nigerian Army, Navy, SSS, Mobile Police Force, Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), Force CID and IGP’s special crack squads.
In many, if not in most cases, who becomes what in each of the named conventional security formations in Anambra, Enugu, Umuahia and Abuja can never scale through without the unholy blessings or approval of the said troublesome billionaires, either wholly or in part. The case of CSP James Oshim Nwafor, former OC/SARS, Anambra State, is a clear case in point. Having joined the Nigeria Police Force on 1st April 1983 with Force Entry Number AP31343 and hailed from Ezza North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State with his birth date as 1st January 1961 (56yrs); his last promotion to CSP on 30th January 2013 and his statutory retirement due for 1st April 2018; CSP James Oshim Nwafor, a Bachelor Degree of Science (B.Sc.) holder in Public Administration, is widely noted for his notoriety in doing a litany of dirty jobs for the named troublesome billionaires in the State, who covered and protected him whenever he ran into troubles on account of his gross service-misdeeds.
CSP James Nwafor disastrously held sway as Officer-in-Charge of Nnewi SARS Annex until 2012 when he took over from CSP Felix Kigigha (as he then was) as OC/SARS Anambra State. Following a barrage of petitions against his atrocious policing activities including torture, frame-ups, extortion and other forms of criminal enrichment; several months of detention of citizens without trial and indiscriminate killing of citizens who were arrested and taken into SARS custodies; CSP James Nwafor was transferred to Bauchi State in early January 2016. He was later assisted by the named troublesome billionaires leading to his procured transferred to Enugu, from where he was brought back to Anambra State by Governor Willie Obiano and the named troublesome billionaires on 12th September 2016.
CSP James Nwafor was reported to have been assisted by the named troublesome billionaires out of Bauchi State barely one month after he was transferred to the State and while in Enugu, two attempts were also reported to have been made to make him the OC/SARS of Enugu and Delta State Police Commands, respectively, but were strongly resisted by concerned civilized quarters. In the course of mountains and mounting of opposition from several human rights quarters including Amnesty Int’l, Intersociety, NOPRIN and CLO against his return as Anambra OC/SARS in September 2016, the same troublesome billionaires and Governor Willie Obiano rose in his fierce defense; resulting in a battle of the titans between rights groups and the named troublesome billionaires until the rights groups triumphed. A named key player in Anambra security specifically summoned an undercover anti violent crime whistle blower that we assisted in 2014 to appear before him to “defend himself” over an allegation by CSP Nwafor that “he sold secret information about him to Onitsha Human Rights People”.
The dirty use of CSP James Oshim Nwafor and his likes by the named troublesome billionaires is not surprising to us and it is rested on indiscriminate arrest of innocent members of the public at the behest or instance of the said troublesome billionaires; for violent and barbarous purpose of throwing them into several months of detention without trial, torture and possible extra judicial executions or facilitating their deaths through grievous bodily harm and other forms of torture. This explains why we said earlier that the wealth of these troublesome billionaires has done more grave harm than good to Anambra State and its innocent citizens.
It is also disheartening to note that the Awkuzu SARS headquarters and its structural outlook and location depicts out-right torture chambers of unrivalled sort and this is very appealing to these troublesome billionaires in furtherance of their master-slave like and other violent activities. If the said troublesome billionaires are genuinely wealthy with the interest of Anambra Society and its citizens at heart and with genuine philanthropy, they should have transformed Awkuzu SARS headquarters into the state-of-art violent crime detection, investigation, processing and prosecuting headquarters with fully equipped modern crime labs and libraries and assemblage of best brains in policing intelligence, policing detection, policing interrogation, policing prosecution and electronic policing.
Conversely, Awkuzu SARS headquarters is thousands of miles away from the foregoing. Till date, Awkuzu SARS headquarters is haunted by near-total, if not total power darkness and it has no metal detective devices, detective cameras, CCTV and other forms of electronic security and intelligence monitoring gadgets. The ICT-powered Sniffer Programs and Keystroke Loggers and other ICT-powered intelligence gathering devices and techniques such as tracking devices use in unmasking the activities of violent criminals such as their movements, mobile phone uses, etc; are strange and alien to Awkuzu SARS operatives and their headships. As we speak/write, 90% of the Awkuzu SARS operatives and 80% of its substantive and unit commanders are computer and internet illiterates. They are only adept in the use of grievous bodily harm and other forms of torture and custodial killings (tagged: travelling of suspects).
This advocacy voice or public statement of ours shall continue in coming days with Part 3 and Part 4 which is the concluding part.
Signed:
For: Int’l Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law
- Emeka Umeagbalasi, Board Chairman
Mobile Line: +2348174090052
- Obianuju Joy Igboeli, Esq.
Head, Civil Liberties & Rule of Law Program
- Chinwe Umeche, Esq.
Head, Democracy & Good Governance Program
- Florence C. Akubilo, Esq.
Head, Campaign & Publicity Department
Contact: International Society for Civil Liberties & Rule of Law
Phone Lines: +2348182411462, +2349063500218
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.intersociety-ng.org
