From Wilson Okereke, Afikpo
With three of her children clustering around her, Mrs. Goodness Chukwu could not hold back tears as she spoke to Daily Sun in her husband’s family compound, on what they have passed through since December 26, 2021, when her spouse, his brother and two others vanished to a place unknown.
Goodness’s husband, Ogonna Chukwu, 33, his sibling, Sunday Chukwu, 31, their in-law, Chinedu Nwaite, 30, and their friend, Tochukwu Ekuma, 30, all indigenes of Isiama, Onicha Igboeze community in Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, have not been seen since that fateful Boxing Day when they set out for the traditional marriage of their cousin in Okpa-Ogene, Oju LGA, Benue State. Mother of the two missing brothers, Mrs. Lydia Chukwu, hails from Oju and they were travelling on two motorcycles to the place.
Lydia, like her daughters-in-law, has been in a melancholic state ever since. Goodness told Daily Sun that the situation has thrown her into hardship, as she finds it difficult to provide her children the basic needs of life, let alone settling their schools’ financial requirements.
“I am finding it difficult to withstand my children’s questions; they would always ask about their father. This is why I’m appealing for government’s intervention because it will be a disheartening situation for us to become widows at this tender age,” bemoaned the pregnant 29-year-old mother of three.
Success Chukwu, whose husband, Sunday, also went missing, said her state of worry has deteriorated from bad to worse because it was over a month since her spouse left home alongside the three other persons, yet no information had been forthcoming about his location.
The 20-year-old nursing mother said: “This is over one month, still we have not heard from my husband, we have gone to the police many times, but all to no avail. Since then, I have not been finding things easy. I have lost appetite, I rarely sleep in the night and day, and the condition is equally affecting my little baby who has been emaciating.”
Success, who is a tailor’s apprentice, added that things were not palatable with her and her only baby of about five months old since the sudden disappearance of her husband.
Goodnews Chinedu, a hair dresser and wife of Chinedu Nwaite, another of the missing men, stated that her husband was an automobile electrician who was doing well before the unfortunate incident. The 22-year-old lady said she was at a loss and still found it hard to comprehend the situation.
“Both Peter and Sunday are my elder brothers, I am also a newly married wife of Chinedu Nwaite. This means that I am the worst hit, my two brothers and my young husband are missing. This is why I am calling on the government at all levels and good-spirited individuals for assistance so that my brothers and husband will be found,” she said.
The lady, who disclosed that the situation contributed to the death of her father recently, added that it has equally resulted to health challenges for her mother, Lydia. According to her, the widow now lives on medications.
She said: “A situation whereby my mother’s two sons and son-in-law are missing is very hard to bear and the condition caused the death of my father.
“So, the shock and trauma are much on her. This is why my mother’s health is dwindling on a daily basis; the situation has gone beyond the strength of our families and I am appealing for help from both the government and individuals, especially concerning my sisters-in-law and their children.”
Chief Ogbonnaya Ekuma, father of one of the victims, Tochukwu, said the problem was still a mirage to him in the sense that on the fateful day, his son was asked by the other three to accompany them to Abakaliki and the quartet have neither been seen nor heard from even after one month.
The old man further said that they had reported the matter to the police, who, subsequently, announced the missing persons in the media, including radio, television, newspapers and online.
Ebonyi State police spokesperson, Loveth Odah, said: “The command has disseminated the information through its control room and other police formations within the command, yet,all efforts made to trace the victims at the time of this publication proved abortive.”
Some people believe that the four men may have yet become victims of the festering conflict between Effium and Ezza Effium communities in Ohaukwu Local Government Area bordering Ebonyi and Benue states, which has claimed many lives.