The law was made to help us in dispute resolutions, to uphold the right of the common man, especially but not limited to the less privileged, and to ensure that there is peace in the land.

But just like every other human invention, humans have found a way to circumvent this law and sometimes appear to be above it, and this holds true in the case of Senator Igbeke Ubanesse, who for so long has boasted to be above the law and it’s long arms.

On several occasions, Ubanesse has defied the law and got away with it due to his Abuja connections. He has been involved in gun running, racketeering, political thuggery, oil bunkers, kidnapping, to name but a few, but always somehow manages to get away with it. Nigeria being the country it is, one may be tempted to look away, but when it concerns human life, especially that of little children, then it is worth a second look.

The case of the Eight ( missing Nsugbe children is a story carried by the British Broadcasting Corporation, an international investigating media of reputable excellence in investigative journalism. They demanded justice for the 8 boys that disappeared in police custody without a trace or any trial from any court in Nigeria.
Anambra State government, National Human Rights Commission, Abuja and Awka received the petition regarding the case of the missing children. Also, the Inspector general of police through zone 13 and commissioner of police Anambra State, the End SARS panel Anambra State, received the petition, Amnesty international, and many others other reputable agencies were informed of the happenings that took place in wihch the children left never to return. Here is another look at the events that took place.

In the year 2000, the little town of Nsugbe was shaken by happenings in no way concerned with the turning of a new millenium. A group of children between the ages of 10 to 21 were rounded up by three henchmen: Seliki Ajani, Okwasiego and Mba ana abalu agu, at the directive of the controversial senator Alphosnus Igbeke Ubanesse, for the trivial reason of firing fire crackers.

what is bizarre is not that the senator was playing vigilante, a portfolio far from his job description, it was not the fact that fire crackers were not considered illegal and therefore arresting children for using was silly and out of order, it was the fact that these children told the senator and his henchmen, repeatedly, under illegal torturing and unlawful detention, that they did not do it.

On that black day, Seliki Ajani, Okwasiego and mba ana abalu agu broke into the house of one of the children , Chinenye Christian Ekwealor who was 10 years old as of then, and after throwing the house upside down, demanded that the child be brought to Ubanesse. As the stories told, the child was later picked up by the henchmen in what could be called a kidnapping and taken without the consent of the parents to the house of the Senator, who is known by his kinsmen to be a criminal kingpin.

After undue, illegal and prolonged torture, in which the children were being beaten to confess to crimes they knew nothing about and have vehemently denied, one of the children agreed under duress to having a gun in his parents house.

At this point, it is pertinent to pause and remember that among these was a 10 year old child. One needs to ask themselves what a 10 year old had to do with a gun.

Nkechi, sister to Chinenye Christian Ekwealor on getting the news of her brothers ‘kidnap’ quickly ran to Ubanesse’s house, where she saw the children kneeling, their hands tied behind their back, crying. These children;
Chineye Christian Ekwealor, Nweke Obiekwe, Ekene Ekwealor, Uche Ogugua and Ekene Ogugua the twin brothers from Umuezilo Ogwari, Sunday Okeke, Onyekwelu Obiekwe, Obiorah Chuma and others were being tortured with machetes and belts, as reported by Nkechi.

One of the little boys from Umuezilo Ogwari agreed to having a weapon in his parent’s house. The henchmen then took the child to his parents house to retrieve the weapon. On getting to the house, the little boy said that he agreed to having the gun so that he could at the least be taken home to his parents. He hoped that when his parents saw him, they will question his unlawful detention and that of the other children.

Senator Ubanesse Igbeke’s henchmen broke into and ransacked the house but couldn't find any weapons. They then proceeded to take the boy back to the senator’s house, and when the child’s parents tried to intervene, the henchman Mba ana abalu agu, Okwasiego and seliki Ajani said the Senator ordered them to return with the child.

The boys parents had no option but to go to the senators house that night, but were denied entrance, on the orders of the senator Ubanesse, who is from Nsugbe, same as these children. The parents kept on trying to gain access to the house for over a week. Nwabunwanne Egenti who was the gateman at Ubanesse’s house always told them that the senator is not available to see them.

When direct access to Ubanesse proved almost impossible, the help of influential people was sought. The late Ozoemena of Nsugbe who, happened to be the spokesperson for one of the abducted boys, Sunday Okeke told the parents of the Ekwealor boy that the senator handed the abducted boys over to the Special Anti Robbery Squad branch of the police.

It was at this point that an already bizarre event took turns for worse. If these children were arrested on the suspicion of having and using firecrackers, which is a clumsy excuse for taking children from their parents, it is worrying that the same children would be taken to a branch of police notorious for extrajudicial killings.

Visits to Awkuzu SARS, Onitsha and Awka police station to find the children did not yield any positive results as the name of the 10 year boy Chinenye Ekwealor and the twin brothers from Umuezilo Ogwari were not found at any of these police stations. when the senator was confronted a couple of months later by the boy’s mother and sister, he denied knowing the whereabouts of the same children he sent his henchmen to kidnap. The senator's late brother once told the boy’s mother in confidence that he believed that Ubanesse used the children for rituals, to further his political ambitions.

It has been 23 years since the questionable abduction of these children, their parents have had to live without them for these number of years, but nobody has been able to give a definite answer as to their whereabouts. It would be important to remember again that the crime these children allegedly committed was the possession of firecrackers. Was that enough reasons for the senator to abduct them?, who made him the security person in charge of these matters?, why haven’t the children been returned to their parents?, should the senators late brother be believed on the ritual story?.

Senator Alphonsus Igbeke Ubanesse has always been a questionable character with an even questionable behaviour who has always claimed immunity from the law due to his political connections, but what type of immunity protects one who abducts the children of his kinsmen, barely of legal age, never to be seen again?

The young Christian Ekwealor would be 33 this year. Where is justice for these children?, how long will Senator Ubanesse deny knowing of their whereabouts? how much longer do their parents have to live without them?

Is Ubanesse Above the law?
One will ask if the law is respected by some individuals. How many crimes does a man have to commit for the laws of the land to step in, how many children have to disappear or presumably die, was the law meant to be broken at will by a few persons, In the case of a notorious and dirty politician Ex-Senator Alphonsus Obi Igbeke, where is the law and Justice?

The one-time house of Representatives member, a single-term Senator who won his election without participating in the same election that made him a senator, the native of a lowly place who served in one of the highest offices in the land without any constituency project or a legacy for his people, except only tales of grief and woe.

What exactly is going on in Nsugbe? what ia the truth behind the criminal life of Ubanese Igbeke?
Perhaps the story is never true?
If that were to be the case, are the affected families lying?
What about the recent case of Chidi and Charles that spent two months and some days in detention, courtesy of Alphonsus Igbeke, just because they want their village to have power supply?

Who will deliver Nsugbe from the stranglehold of Senator Alphonsus Igbeke Ubanese?

Which kind long write-up be this one on the eve of Guber election...

Biko I will come and read it on Sunday after election