By Pedro Ayobami
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A human rights leader, Mr. Emeka Umeagbalasi, has provided a crucial lead on the whereabouts of a missing bishop in Anambra State. Umeagbalasi, who is also the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, was attacked by gunmen on December 5, 2024, while traveling with his family from his hometown to his base in Onitsha.
The gunmen, who were masquerading as freedom fighters, dispossessed Umeagbalasi of his Hilux van at gunpoint, terrorizing his family members in the process. The incident occurred at the Ezinifitte-Aguata Roundabout, where the armed group members, numbering over fifteen, openly shouted “Biafra or Nothing !!!” amid war-grade shootings and raining of bullets.
In a surprising twist, Umeagbalasi’s experience may hold the key to finding the missing Bishop Ndubuisi Obi of Nnewi Diocese, who had raised an alarm over the whereabouts of Most Rev. Prof. Godwin Okpala, Retired Archbishop of the Niger Province and Bishop of Nnewi. The cleric was said to have gone missing with his driver days after he set out from his base in Nnewi to his hometown Umuchu.
Umeagbalasi’s account suggests that the cleric may have been one of many people abducted on the day he was attacked, as the description of his car fits that of those who were abducted on the day of the attack. He stated, “It is also our strong suspicion that the missing Retired Archbishop of the Nnewi Province of the Anglican Communion, Most Reverend, Godwin Okpala, his driver and their Prado Jeep might have gone missing during the shooting spree and parade of the said Thursday, Dec 5, 2024, in the hands of the armed Counterfeit Biafra Agitators who are likely to have taken them into captivity.”
Despite efforts to reach the state police command’s spokesperson, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, for updates on the cleric’s wellbeing, calls to his phone line did not connect.
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