TIME was when some people of sudden wealth took over the landscape of
Imo State. They did whatever they liked, when, how and where they
chose. Some even felt that spotting policemen as orderlies were no
longer fashionable hence they settled for armed soldiers.
More often than not, they were seen blocking the roads completely,
while chatting with their friends. Anybody that dared to protest got the
severest beating of his life. The “bouncers” around them descended on
motorists at will and even went as far as denting people’s cars at the
slightest “provocation”. Nobody dared to call them names. They were gods
of sorts.
They threw money at people with ease. Royal fathers fell over heels
and wanted to outdo each other in their mad rush to hand out chieftaincy
titles to this class of people. All these acts angered the people.
Mr. Ebenezer Egwuekwe
It was no wonder that people’s anger boiled over in 1996, when they
heard about the brutal beheading of 11-year old Innocent Okonkwo and his
eventual burial in a shallow grave located in Otokoto Hotels, Amakohia,
Owerri. That marked the limit of their endurance. They could take no
more and the result was a mass protest in Owerri.
Angry residents of Owerri moved from point to the other in search of
these people of very questionable wealth. Buildings belonging to such
people were torched. Their personal effects were either burnt or looted
by people. Cases of missing persons, dehumanization, brutalization,
molestation and wanton destruction of property belonging to hapless and
helpless citizens abated in the state.
The spontaneous agitation by the people gingered the security
agencies into action. A lot of people were arrested and suffered serious
deprivations as a result. A new vista of life commenced. Virtually all
the people working in Otokoto Hotel, including the Hotel Manager, Mr.
Ebenezer Egwuekwe, were arrested.
Summary trial
If residents of Owerri were given the opportunity, all the suspects
would have been given summary trial by the mob and lynched. All the
same, the suspects suffered varying levels of indignity. Members of
their different families even had worse stories to tell than those
cooling their heels in prison. A couple of those described by the police
as “the prime suspects” were later arraigned in court. After a long
tortuous criminal trial in Owerri, they were sentenced to death.
The convicts, including 62-year old Ebenezer Egwuekwe, were moved to
Federal Prisons, Port Harcourt. However, armed with his stoic belief in
his innocence, Egwuekwe appealed his death sentence. This battle for
life lasted about 16 years! For the family, it remains a thing of joy
that their bread winner did not die in prison while the legal battle
lasted. They are also happy that 16 years after, the innocence of
Egwuekwe has been upheld by the Court of Appeal.
His ordeal started when one of the staff of Otokoto Hotel was caught
with a fresh human head at Eziama, in the Ikeduru Local Council Area. He
was asked to report to police which he did. He was subsequently
arrested and charged for murder.
Narrating his prison experience, Egwuekwe said he was moved from one
prison to another. According to him, his worst experience was in Port
Harcourt where he was treated like a condemned criminal. “If I had
committed anything worthy of imprisonment, I would have accepted my fate
but unfortunately, I did nothing to warrant 16 years of suffering.
While in prison, all my friends deserted me and my wife and eight
children passed through very difficult times,” Egwuekwe said.
He recalled with grief that his few landed properties were sold to
pay his legal fees and take care of his feeding. He stated that he
cannot fully express the level of hardship his family passed through as
he was the only bread winner of the family.
Egwuekwe was, however, thankful to God that despite his travails, he
has been released and cleared of all the charges slammed on him. He
however appealed to people of goodwill to assist him get back on his
feet and be integrated into the free society again. He added:“ I don’t
know where to start life again. I don’t even know with what to start
with again. My mates, who started the race with me, have since overtaken
me.”
Speaking also, his first son, Mr. Ifeanyi Egwuekwe, affirmed that the
family passed through very hard times since their father was arrested
and incarcerated.
“Besides spending a staggering N2.5 million as legal fees, the family
also incurred other expenses. In all, we are very happy that our dear
father has been reunited with the family”, Ifeanyi said.
