A human rights activist, Comrade Osita Obi has cried out over the spate of missing people in Anambra State.
The activist who addressed a press conference in Awka said it is becoming almost normal for people to mysteriously disappear in Anambra with no trace, while life continues as if nothing has happened.
He said besides persons who have fallen victim to kidnappers and who were never found, there have been three prominent individuals in the state, who have remained missing, and nothing was being done to trace them.
He mentioned prominent businessman, Mr Benjamin Ezemma, House of Assembly member, Hon Justice Azuka and candidate of Labour Party in the Anambra 2021 governorship election, Mr Obiora Agbasimalo, all of who went missing at various times, and have not been seen afterwards.
Obi said: “I am more particular about the sudden disappearance of Mr Benjamin Ezemma, who is also the Vice Chairman of Dubai Estate, and also known as Big Ben. He disappeared on November 12 and has not been seen since then.
“We are here to encourage government to find Ben Ezemma. It is Ben today, it may be any one of us tomorrow. We know that government has the capacity to find this man. What is the federal government doing about this?
“We all did SIM registration, NIN registration and others, what is the use of such data which we left with the federal government, can’t they use it to find missing people like Ben?
“We are urging police, DSS, NSA and other security to find this man. We are expecting that the authorities would have swung into action, without waiting for people like us to report the incident to them.
“Let these security agencies use the facilities available to them to track down his kidnappers. Even if it entails to monitor the call log of Ben through his service providers, we can use it to know the kind of person Ben was, and what he has been into and who he has been having dealings with.”
The activist revealed that some people who are suspected to have had dealings with the missing businessman have been dragged to court. He begged journalists to show interest in the matter and report it to the world, so that it would not be swept under the carpet.
While expressing happiness about the level of commitment the Department of State Services (DSS) in Anambra State has shown in the matter, he condemned the state police command for what he called glaring incompetence.
He said: “I’m not happy with police performance in this matter. Anambra should not be a dumping ground for police officers who are due for retirement, who just come here to make money. If this continues, we may have no option than to protest it.”
