Florence Uwaeme
A lawyer, Mr Chris Okparaolu has written to the US embassy in Nigeria; the Inspector General of the Nigerian Police, Abubakar Adamu, and the National Human Rights Commission over the abduction of three family members of his client, Dr Alamie-Omu Ebenezer Nonju of 1925 Cherry Stone, Norman, Oklahoma, United States of America who is a Medical Doctor with a core in Orthopedic Surgery.
The victims, Dr Alamie-Omu Uzoezi Christabel and her two children; Master Tamunonemi Christian Alamie-Omu Nonju and Miss Iwowari Lily Alamie-Omu Nonju who are American citizens were abducted at No 14 Mission Avenue, off Odili Road, Port Harcourt where they lived with their father and husband, as one happy family on August 2015.
In the letter dated 12th December 2019, the lawyer said his client fearing it was hoodlums that carried out the dastardly act, called his father-in-law, Mr Christian Olakpe, a former Chairman of the Lagos State Traffic Management, LATSMA who is believed to be a retired senior police officer and a politician, and informed him of the development but “Our Client’s father-in-law, Mr Christian Olakpe, denied knowledge of the whereabouts of our Client’s wife and children”
While the American Embassy confirmed receiving the letter, the police and the Nigerian Human Rights commission have kept mum.
The letter read in part: “Our Client briefs us further that it was not until a report was lodged at the police station that his father-in-law owned up to invading his marital home and abducting his wife and children on the footing that he insulted Mrs Justina Olakpe, his mother-in-law.
“It is also our Client’s brief that investigations at the police station for the rescue and reunification of his family were stalled by the mysterious disappearance of the preliminary Police Report.
“It is on the strength of that and in view of the influence of Mr Christian Olakpe within the police hierarchy, that our Client spent the next 8 (eight) months, from the occurrence of the sad event, exploring other domestic pacific mechanisms within the African traditional family setup to settle his differences with his father-in-law so as to secure the release of his family from captivity.
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“Our Client briefs us that all spirited attempts to amicably resolve the matter have since proven futile. Instead, our Client was threatened and beaten up by hoodlums acting on the instructions of Mr Christian Olakpe and Mrs Justina Olakpe on the 18th day of February 2016 and warned to cease all efforts at locating and retrieving his family.
“The hoodlums added that if our Client did not so desist, he will be branded a psychiatric case and destroyed. Thus, fearing for his own life and armed with the information given to him by Mr Olakpe Christian, as to the whereabouts of his wife and children, our Client travelled out of Nigeria to the United States of America for his safety and perhaps, to meet his wife and children. He later discovered that his wife was not in the United States of America as Mr Christian Olakpe would have him believe. Rather, his children were trafficked to stay with Mrs Ufuoma Olakpe Chukwuyere Valentine and her husband, Toochi Chukwuyere Valentine.
Police Report in the United States of America indicates that the said Mrs Ufuoma Olakpe Chukwuyere Valentine and her husband had been tipped off and neighbors recounted seeing the said couple taking kids that fit the description of our Client’s children across State lines into Colorado State. It is now reported that they have since been smuggled back to Nigeria.
“It is also our Client’s brief that he gathered on good authority, that both his wife and children may have been killed in order to access the social security benefits of the children which amount to thousands of dollars taken as at when the payment comes. Our Client’s wife was said to have been killed as part of and in furtherance of a culture of honour killing because she dared to challenge her father, Mr Christian Olakpe, and sister, Mrs Ufuoma Olakpe Chukwuyere Valentine.
“It is our Client’s fear that at this rate, if his children are not killed, then they would have been sold into slavery to punish him for not agreeing to their schemes for control.
“It is our Client’s further brief that his daughter, at the time of her abduction/Kidnap, was roughly six (6) months old. Now, she is over four(4) years old. His son, who was about two (2) years old at the time he was abducted, is now over six (6) years old.
“It is only normal to imagine the worse in this situation regarding our Client’s wife which could mean that she has either been killed or has been confined under unimaginable circumstances. This suspicion is given more impetus by the fact that the children have been separated from their mother and their whereabouts unknown.
“Our Client has been sorely devastated since he returned home from work to the reality of the abduction/kidnap of his family. His career has suffered a steady decline. Our Client harbors fear that the life of his wife and children could be exposed to physical, emotional and sexual abuse, exploitation and/or trafficking. As human beings and indeed citizens of the United States of America, this should not go unchallenged nor should the killing of an innocent woman for any traditional ritual.
“Consequently, it is our Client’s instruction that we request and we hereby request that you use your good offices to mandate the release of his children and his wife (dead or alive) who were abducted/kidnapped about 4 years ago by Mr Christian Olakpe and Mrs Justina Olakpe.
It is our Client’s fervent prayer that you will act timeously in the interest of these young American citizens in order to reunite them with their parents, who will, in turn, ensure their safety and well being” the letter read.
