Obiora Agbasimalo, the 2021 Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Anambra State is still missing after 885 days, amidst worrying silence by the Nigerian authorities.
Mr Agbasimalo was abducted on 18 September 2021, less than a month before the governorship election in Anambra State which was held on 6 November 2021.
Charles Soludo, a renowned banker and former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, would later win the election.
Mr Soludo, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance in the exercise, was sworn in as governor on 17 March 2022.
The missing man, Mr Agbasimalo, had resigned from Zenith Bank to join the governorship race in the state, after about 15 years of a flourishing career in the banking sector.
The LP candidate was abducted at Lilu, a community in Ihiala Local Government Area of the South-east state, while on a campaign tour to Azhia, another community in the council area.
The former banker was abducted alongside one of the police officers attached to his convoy.
Initial rescue efforts
As previously reported by PREMIUM TIMES, the leadership of the LP had reportedly prevailed on Mr Agbasimalo’s family not to report his abduction to security agencies or speak to the media because, according to them, the abductors had promised to release him after the governorship election.
But after the election passed without the LP’s candidate’s release, his family petitioned various security agencies, including the police and the State Security Service (SSS).
The petitions at the offices of the police and the SSS led to the arrest and arraignment of two suspects: Chukwudi Odimegwu, who was a driver to the missing politician, and one other suspect, Maxwell Nwokolo.
Messrs Odimegwu and Nwokolo are currently facing trial at the Anambra State High Court, Nnewi where they pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge of conspiracy and kidnapping filed against them by the SSS, the agency prosecuting the case.
According to Eucharia Agbasimalo, wife of the abducted LP candidate, the second suspect, Mr Nwokolo had claimed in October 2021, that he is a member of the Eastern Security Network, the militant wing of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
IPOB, a group leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra from the South-east and some parts of south-south Nigeria, is linked to some deadly attacks in the two regions.
Like the leadership of the LP, Mr Nwokolo also reportedly told the distraught wife that her husband was being held in an IPOB camp in the state and that the family should not report the matter to the police or speak to the media, assuring that the victim would be released immediately after the election.
The court sat on 17 November 2023 when Mrs Agbasimalo was cross-examined by the defence counsel.
The case was adjourned until 19 January this year for the continuation of the cross-examination of the politician’s wife.
Besides the arraignment of the suspects, a distressed Mrs Agbasimalo had met with and sought help from several influential people in Anambra and beyond but her husband had still not been found.
Among the people she sought help from, were the senator representing Anambra South District, Ifeanyi Ubah, a chieftain of the LP, Pat Utomi, and Governor Soludo of Anambra State.
Worrying silence
There has been worrying silence from authorities, including security agencies and the Anambra State Government since the LP candidate went missing for over two years.
Apart from the authorities, the Nigerian media appear to have abandoned the matter, with little or no coverage of the case.
Peter Afunanya, the SSS spokesperson, did not respond to calls and a text message seeking his comments on the progress of the trial of the suspects and efforts to track down the abductors.
Mrs Agbasimalo told PREMIUM TIMES on Friday that during her last communication with Mr Soludo on 11 September 2022, the governor had assured that he was ready to provide “high-level support” to both the police and the SSS “to try and get to the bottom of the matter.”
The LP candidate’s wife said the governor told her at the time that he has thousands of issues to deal with and might not have time for the case and asked the mother of two to “take up” information she has with those investigating the case.
She further told this newspaper that Mr Soludo had not reached her since then and that she was unsure if the governor had truly been providing the promised support to the security agencies to rescue her husband.
Anambra govt speaks
When contacted on Friday to comment on the state government’s efforts so far, the spokesperson to Governor Soludo, Christian Aburime, said the governor will continue to give necessary support to security agencies to ensure they succeed in their assignments, especially in the case of Mr Agbasimalo and other missing persons in the state.
Mr Aburime said the Truth, Justice and Peace Committee set up by the governor and headed by a renowned human rights activist, Chidi Odinkalu had recommended that a Bureau for ‘Missing Persons’ be established in order to have accurate records of missing people while security agencies keep working in the hope of finding them.
“Today, the Bureau for Missing Persons has been established by the Government of Prof Soludo and the Bureau is domiciled in the Ministry of Justice. This is a practical demonstration of Governor Soludo’s seriousness about issues in this regard,” he said.
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