Anambra LP governorship candidate still missing three years after

Obiora Agbasimalo, the 2021 Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Anambra State, has been missing for three years now.

Mr Agbasimalo was abducted on 18 September 2021, less than a month before the governorship election in Anambra State which was held on 6 November 2021.

Charles Soludo, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, would later win the election.

Mr Soludo, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, was sworn in as governor on 17 March 2022.

The missing man, Mr Agbasimalo, had resigned from Zenith Bank to join the governorship race in the state, after about 15 years of a flourishing career in the banking sector.

The LP candidate was abducted at Lilu, a community in Ihiala Local Government Area of the South-east state, while on a campaign tour to Azhia, another community in the council area.

The former banker was abducted alongside one of the police officers attached to his convoy.

Initial rescue efforts

As previously reported by PREMIUM TIMES, the leadership of the LP had reportedly prevailed on Mr Agbasimalo’s family not to report his abduction to security agencies and the media because, according to them, the abductors had promised to release him after the governorship election.

But after the election passed without the LP’s candidate’s release, his family petitioned various security agencies, including the police and State Security Service (SSS).

The petitions at the offices of the police and the SSS led to the arrest and arraignment of two suspects: Chukwudi Odimegwu, who was a driver to the missing politician, and another suspect, Maxwell Nwokolo.

Messrs Odimegwu and Nwokolo are currently facing trial at the Anambra State High Court, Nnewi, where they pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge of conspiracy and kidnapping.

The SSS is prosecuting the case.

According to Eucharia Agbasimalo, wife of the abducted LP candidate, the second defendant, Mr Nwokolo, had claimed in October 2021 that he is a member of the Eastern Security Network, the militant wing of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

IPOB, a separatist group leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra, is linked to some deadly attacks in South-east and South-south.

Like the leadership of the LP, Mr Nwokolo also reportedly told the distraught wife that her husband was being held in an IPOB camp in the state and that the family should not report the matter to the police or speak to the media.

The second defendant, according to Eucharia, assured that the abducted politician would be released immediately after the election.

Court hearing

The defendants have been appearing in court since the trial began.

The defence counsel cross-examined Eucharia during a court sitting on 17 November 2023. The lawyer concluded the cross-examination on 19 January 2024.

Besides the arraignment of the suspects, a distressed Eucharia had met with and sought help from several influential people in Anambra and beyond but her husband had still not been found.

Among the people she sought help from were the LP chieftain, Pat Utomi, Governor Soludo, and the then-senator representing Anambra South District, Ifeanyi Ubah.

Mr Ubah died in July in London.

Court sitting continues

The court sitting continued on 26 September when the defence counsel cross-examined Godwin Agbasimalo, a cousin of the missing politician.

Godwin founded the Oga Ndi Oga Foundation, which sponsored the abducted LP candidate in the 6 November 2021 governorship election in Anambra State.

The court adjourned until 26 October to continue the trial. However, the court will rule on the first and second defendants’ application for bail on Friday.

‘I still want justice’

Asked if she was satisfied with the pace of the trial, Eucharia told PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday night that her priority was to get justice and not necessarily speed in the trial.

The mother of two said she believes the court has been sitting on the matter almost monthly.

“My focus is for due diligence to be followed (in the trial), and at the end of the day, justice should be served,” she said.

She stressed that the defendants had been “intimidating” her and the prosecution counsel by their tactics and attitude towards her.

She said the defendants have been consistently changing their lawyers.

Eucharia recalled that, at some point, one of the defendants boasted to her that she would never get justice in the case.

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SSS silent

PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately reach the SSS to speak on the progress of the trial.

The secret police recently redeployed its spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, without announcing a replacement.