Ben Ezechime, Enugu
The people of Ihe Autonomous Community in Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State, have appealed to Governor Peter Mbah to intervene in the detention and sentencing to death of their illustrious son, Mr Ifeanyi Ekoh.
Speaking to Journalists in Enugu, the spokesperson for the community, Mr Nzekwe Nnaemeka, said Ekoh was convicted of the murder of a minor in Ebonyi State in 2012, at the age of 27.
Nnaemeka added that several suspects, who were arrested in connection with the murder case have been freed while only Ekoh and one other were condemned to death.
In a statement made available to Journalists in Enugu, the President-General of the Federation of Ihe Autonomous Communities, Engr. Anichukwu Chikezie Solomon, maintained that Ifeanyi Ekoh was not privy to the murder of the minor, a seven-year-old Ukamaka Immaculata Ogboji, and the eventual dismemberment of her body parts.
He said that after the ruling of the Federal High Court, which sentenced Ekoh to death by hanging, the Supreme Court has been approached to look into the case to see if it could be upturned to free their kinsman from the hangman’s noose.
He appealed to the governor of Enugu State and his counterpart from Ebonyi State to intervene in the matter, insisting that the relevant authorities did not do proper investigations on the matter.
He said: “We want the case to be reviewed for people to intervene in order to find out exactly what happened in Agubia, Ikwo in 2012: so that the life of our innocent son will be saved from wrong accusation levelled against him.
“We want Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah to use his privileged position to call Ebonyi State Governor so that both will intervene in this very matter.
“What we want is that truth should prevail, so that an innocent person will not die in vain and that the actual third accused will be brought to book and Ifeanyi Ekoh whom they used to replace the actual 3rd accused will be freed from a crime he knows nothing about.”
Solomon emphasised the need for Governor Mbah to intervene saying, “we want the governor of Enugu State to intervene to save the life of innocent citizen of Enugu State.”
The president general said the community was sure that Ekoh is innocent of the murder case hence their insistence that the case should be revisited and a proper investigations be carried out.
“We have already written a letter to the Ebonyi State Governor in this regard.
“We also wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of the Federation (CJN), both the past and the present Chief Justice of Nigeria.
“We have also written to the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Member representing Awgu, Aninri and Oji River Federal Constituency and the Senator representing Enugu West Senatorial Zone.
“All those letters are to ensure that people will not hesitate to intervene.
“We want them to intervene so that an innocent citizen of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ekoh, will be set free,” he said.
Solomon said they got the certified true copies of the Appeal Court judgment separately on the people that were indicted and convicted over the incident and discovered that there was a miscarriage of justice hence the recourse to Supreme Court and the appeal for Governor Mbah’s intervention.
He insisted that there was a miscarriage of justice in the murder case, pointing out that the person who should have been the third accused in the matter, was deliberately left out and was never put in the dock because of his privileged position of authority.
He also insisted that Ifeanyi Ekoh had a good alibi that was disregarded by the Appeal Court that he was not in Agubia-Ikwo, Ebonyi State, on the very day, August 19, 2012, when the seven years old Miss Ukamaka Immaculata Ogboji was abducted, killed and her body parts dismembered.
The Community leader further lamented that a human rights activist, Comrade Kindness Jonah, who had been assisting the Ihe community to see that Ifeanyi Ekoh is not executed for the crime he did not commit, was whisked away from Enugu to Abuja Special SARS Abbatoir Office, Abuja without trial.
He disclosed that, a prominent politician from Ebonyi State, who is in the National Assembly, NASS, threw Kindness Jonah behind bars for close to a month now without trial even when two-count charge of cyber stalking and cyber bullying had been preferred against him.
He solicited the support and solidarity of all well-meaning Nigeria’s and the media to intervene in the matter so as to save the lives of both Ekoh and the human rights crusader, Mr Kindness Jonah.
