My son’s captors collected ransom and still murdered him, laments dad

By Anayo Okoli and Enyim Enyim
THURSDAY,  December 17, 2009, was a normal day for the Iheaku family.  Mr. Chijioke Nnaemeka Iheaku, a lawyer and industrialist had started the day without any inkling or fear that danger of any sort awaited him.  

Chijioke, a handsome 40- year- old Osina , Imo State born, had temporary relocated from Lagos to the East to monitor his multi-million naira factory in Owerri, the Imo State capital and had called  his wife, Nonye that ill-fated day to crack his usual jokes with her and his four lovely kids,  three boys and a girl, aged between one and seven years respectively.

He had happily played with them on the phone and promised to see them in a matter of days when they would come down to meet him and other members of the family,  reputed for stock fish trade in the whole of the Eastern states for the Christmas celebration.

Happily satisfied that his family was okay, Chijioke proceeded to his multi-million naira factory, GINCOL Projects Ltd, a state-of-the-art plastic and PVC manufacturing outfit located at the industrial estate of Owerri. The one year old factory has attracted the attention of the Imo State government which was proud that a young man could have such vision and transform into a project that has provided jobs for hundreds of people.

Late night work gave him to his captors

Chijioke, who did t it?

His penchant for hard work always made him work late into the nights in his office to ensure that things are done the way he planned them. So, on December 17, 2009, and at about 7.30 00pm, he left his office, having satisfied himself that the day had gone well without an inkling that danger was lurking. Just few meters from the gate of his factory, he was said to had sighted some people who drove ferociously and blocked his way, and ordered his driver to stop at gun point.

The hoodlums reportedly forced Chijioke to their own jeep and zoomed off. That was the beginning of his trouble. He had been kidnapped.   On getting to know about his travail, the family promptly incidented the matter at a police station in Owerri.

Contact and ransom

Later, his captors made contact with the family and demanded a ransom of N300 million. But on December 26, after holding him for 10 days, the hoodlums made contact again, this time, they brought down the ransom to N7 million. Worried by the fate of their son, the family raised the money and took it to the agreed location at about 10pm. Sadly, after collecting the money, the hoodlums directed his people to the booth of their vehicle where the lifeless body of Chijioke lay.

They had tortured him to death; it was presumed.  This is because a careful examination of his body revealed no sign of gun shot wounds.  To say that his death has since thrown the entire family into despair and mourning,  is to say the least.

To many, the death of Iheaku may sound incredible, but it is undoubtedly true that what appeared to be a kidnap,  a brisk business now in vogue in the country, especially the South East zone, has turned out to be a new scientific method of  assassinating marked victims on the ‘executioners’ list.

This is the firm belief of the family of Chief Godson Nwosu Iheaku.

Entering the premises of Iheaku at the GRA, Onitsha, one could easily read the mood of the family as uneasy calm pervaded the massive compound.  It, therefore, took a painstaking perseverance to get the father of the deceased to speak.  And as he sat dejectedly on the dining chair in his sitting room at the grand floor,  tears rolled uncontrollably down his cheeks.  He sat back on the chair, cleared his throat before narrating the tragedy that befell the family on December 26, 2009.
Dad recounts ordeal

He started  by clearing any doubts that his late son was killed because he was either owing somebody or defrauded a business partner.  He, however,  conceded that Chijioke took loans from two banks with which he was able to establish the gigantic plastic manufacturing plant that has given jobs opportunity to about 200 Nigerians . The 72- year- old energetic man said the late son had wanted to establish the plant outside Imo State, his home state, but he advised him to set it up there because charity begins at home.

“It is a very big establishment which is situated at Industrial Layout in Owerri.  This factory is not too old but it is moving very fast.  He has the technology, he has the knowledge, and he has the ability to the extent that as it is now, they don’t even meet the demand of the buyers.  Most of the buyers who have been buying from other sources have decided to turn over, buying from him because of the quality, efficiency and goodwill which they have established.

“But I think, if you ask me, I will say that maybe people are not happy the way his factory is moving.  People are not happy but I don’t know them, those who are not happy. But I believe very strongly that this is a case of malice, transparent malice, acrimony and animosity.  This is my assessment.”

Continuing, Chief Iheaku  said, “ precisely on 17th December 2009, Chijioke went to Benin to explore the possibility of establishing  a depot there.  As a matter of fact, for the past one week,  he was not in that (his) factory.  It was on December 17, that he came from Onitsha to explore the possibility of establishing a depot there.   That same day, he went to Owerri where the factory is situated, went through all the records of what they are doing, supervised all the activities going on there, and at the end of the day, he decided to retire with his driver.

That was the beginning of the journey to his untimely death.   At a point, they now said, ‘this is what we want.  Bring this money, come and take your man’.  So, at that point in time, we thought it was a case of kidnapping which is rampant today in all parts of this country, particularly in the South Eastern area of the country.  But let me say with emphasis that the same date, the same day this happened, this matter was reported to the police at Owerri, Umuahia Zone 9, and the Inspector General of Police and us did not hear of anything until we saw the remains of him in their boot.”

Pa Iheaku believed that the police would do everything possible to unravel the mystery behind the kidnap and murder of his first son.  He also appealed to the Federal Government to give a directive to the police and other relevant authorities to ensure that justice was done in this matter.

In his lamentation, he said the worrisome aspect of the matter was that the so-called kidnappers collected ransom from his family even after killing his son, and he prayed God to reward them accordingly.

“When we now agreed with the kidnappers where this money should be dropped, and the time it should be dropped, we complied.  We sent the same driver who was driving Chijioke at the point he was kidnapped and one Onuorah Onyejekwe.

They met the kidnappers at night at the place it was agreed and they asked, ‘where is our money? Where is our money?’  The money was given to them in a very big bag where it was packed.

Ransom paid after victim’s murder
They took the money, put the money inside their car, opened their booth and delivered the dead body and ordered the people to leave the vicinity,  otherwise they would be killed.   That was how we saw it.   It means they meant to kill him, not just to collect the ransom  So, when that also happened, we reported the matter to the police again.  Right now, the body is lying at Federal Medical Centre Owerri.  We have written petitions to the police.

We have written to the IGP Ogbonna Onovo, AIG Zone 9, Umuahia, State Police Command Owerri and we have even informed the Governor of Imo State in writing.  We have informed the Speaker, Imo State House of Assembly, we have informed the Representative of Ideato North Local Government in the Imo State House of Assembly, the Senator representing Orlu and Oguta, Federal Representative of Ideato Federal Constituency.  As a matter of fact,  we have informed all the authorities which we think we should inform about this incident.”

As if the septuagenarian was resigning to fate, he intoned,  “This is the way we saw it and right now, I and my family  are in agony and pains, we are in sorrow, fasting and wailing;  but everything put together. We are leaving everything in the hands of the Almighty God. However,  we are very sure, absolutely sure,  that almighty God knows all these questions.

He knows the faces of those who committed the crime, their names, where they are, what they have done with the money they collected after killing my son.”

Deceased’s younger brother speaks.
Speaking to Saturday Vanguard, his younger brother and the third son of the family who is also a lawyer,  Mr. Izunna Iheaku, said he spoke with his late brother two days before he was brutally murdered by the yet to be identified assassins. He said his brother had sent him a text message which he also replied, saying that it bothered on what he wanted him to do for him and not connected with the incident.

He described his late brother as a peaceful man who wanted to do good to everybody around him, including those working in his factory. He said his late brother had never mentioned any threat to his life to him neither has anybody threaten him too.

According to him, the death of Chijioke is a huge lose to him and the family.

The driver alsoRecounting his experience,  the driver to the deceased,  Mr. Christopher Okereke, a sixty- seven year- old man who also drove Chijioke on that fateful day said, “My boss had after the days job asked me to drop him off where he will pass the night and take back the vehicle to the factory. But as soon as we left the premises of the factory to the front of the gate we saw three hefty men well armed with guns who double- crossed us with a Toyota Hilux and ordered me to stop.

As soon as they stopped us,  the men bundled me and my master out of the vehicle put threw us in their own vehicle and drove away to a destination where I can not remember now.  It was when they brought the corpse of Chijioke that we started crying and they quickly warned us that we should not make any noise, otherwise they will waste us.  Our saviour was an on_coming vehicle that distracted their attention and it was at that point that we quickly carried the corpse of Chijioke and put him in our pick_up, and drove away”.

Whether it be case of assassins or kidnap, police must find killers

As he is billed to be buried on January 15, 2010, what the family and indeed all who know this amiable young man demand from relevant security agencies is that his killers should be brought to book. The people are questioning whether the sad incident which led to the death of their beloved son was actually a case of kidnapping or assassination; this mystery they say, the police must unravel.