Onyekachukei Ike, a lawmaker-elect, was the target of an attempted kidnapping on Thursday at the Anambra State House of Assembly Complex, which has been linked to a multibillionaire Nnewi tycoon.
According to reports, armed men posing as security agents broke into the Anambra State House of Assembly in Awka on Thursday and made an attempt to kidnap Ike.
Our correspondent learned that the event generated chaos within the parliamentary complex for more than an hour.
The member-elect was taken hostage after taking part in a farewell thanksgiving, according to an eyewitness who claimed that three armed men drove into the Assembly compound in three different vehicles.
Ike reportedly received orders from the billionaire to be detained at all costs due to disagreements he had with an oil mogul in the same region.
Another witness to the arrest, Ebuka Onyekwelu, described what happened, saying, “I saw Hon. Onyedikachukwu Ike, henceforth referred to as “Synod,” member-elect for Nnewi North, in one of the offices in the Assembly Complex. I witnessed three unmarked vehicles enter the complex earlier while I was catching up with a member. I tried to figure out who that was, but to no effect. I couldn’t easily dictate the convoy, which was unusual. I later saw that they came with the mission of whisking Synod away.
“I and Synod were catching up in that office, and from there I walked down into the Clerk of the House and had some heartwarming pleasantries with her. We just finished talking with the clerk, and as she stepped out, some men surrounded both of us (Synod and myself) and then picked him.
“I was like, “wow”!” So I went straight and told the speaker. I called some people within the complex and alerted them. All within a minute. The clerk, seeing what just happened, went down and raised an alarm, and immediately the gates of the house were locked.
“You cannot come into the Assembly to abduct someone. It is impossible. There is no place where it is tenable in any kind of democracy. The house security showed the utmost professionalism. They refused to be moved. Members of the Assembly gathered immediately; the staff of the House, the media, everyone came out and insisted that they must free him.
“The Speaker came down and was angry, saying that he must be freed, then appealed for calm before it degenerates into chaos. This went on for about a few minutes before the Deputy Governor came for the valedictory session and ran into absurdity. The Deputy Governor said the same thing: that the young man be freed. Having no option, they grudgingly freed him and left.
“The biggest shame is that the atrocious attempt to abduct a member-elect was connected to a fellow Nnewi man, whom, it was reported earlier, had secured an arrest warrant or whatever on Synod.
” Armed with this information, people just wanted to know what the case was. “What did he do?” So many questions: “Did he kill someone?”, They queried further in a haste to know why he must have been abducted. It was shocking and insane trying to make such an extremely embarrassing situation look ordinary in the name of a certain communal land dispute or feud between (the billionaire) and (a senator), like in the popular narrative of a fight between two elephants, which the gass pays for. They don’t seem to understand it.
“It was a monumental disgrace, for want of words. I felt so sad trying to explain to people that it was a family issue taken too far. Many wondered, “How come a man of such stature is chasing the small boy about? To that, I had no answers.
“After my recovery from the shock and confusion, I came to the conclusion that I have to put this on record for posterity.”
Another respondent said, “Somebody should tell this Nnewi businessman to stop and allow Ikedoji to concentrate. He is now an elected lawmaker, so there is no need for all this muscle tussle.
“He (Billions) would have stopped him from winning the election, but since he couldn’t stop him from winning, he should allow him to concentrate on service to his people.”
Razor
