Walter Emeribe, husband of Adeline, a staff member of the Ministry of Defence, who was abducted alongside five other ministry employees on the Lagos–Kabba–Lokoja Highway, has called on the Federal Government to tell him the truth about his wife’s whereabouts.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television Sunrise Daily programme on Wednesday, Emeribe said nobody from the ministry of defence had contacted him
to relay any information as regards the whereabouts of his wife.
“Actually, nobody from the Ministry of Defense has contacted me. Nobody told me anything. I had to call my wife’s school, the primary place of her work assignment, which is a commanding secondary school lodger in Ojo military cantonment. They only said the commandant was aware,” he stated.
His wife, Mrs. Adeline, was kidnapped while travelling from Lagos to Abuja for a promotion exam with some of her colleagues.
Recall that on November 9, six directors, all staff of the Command Day Secondary School (CDSS), Ojo, Lagos, were heading to Abuja to sit for a promotion exam when their vehicle was ambushed on the Kabba–Lokoja highway long plagued by insecurity.
However, while four of the kidnapped victims were rescued, two are yet to regain freedom. The released victims were Mrs. Helen Ezeakor, Mrs. Ladoye C. A., Mrs Ngozi Ibeziakor, and Mrs. Essien Catherine O., and the two still missing are Mrs. Adeline Emeribe and Mrs. Onwuzurike J. A.
Speaking, Emeribe explained that his wife boarded a 14-seater bus belonging to Andyliz Transport Company around 7:46 AM at First Gate in Lagos. At about 1:30 PM, she told him on the phone that the bus was at Akure and had no mechanical problems. But by 4 PM, her lines stopped going through.
“Her Airtel line kept ringing but she never answered. The other line was unreachable. So, I continued until midnight. From midnight again, I continued calling at intervals up to 5 AM. I did not sleep. So getting to 6 AM on Monday, I called, I didn’t hear anything.” he said.
Out of fear, Emeribe said he went to the transport company’s office, where a staff member told him that the bus had been attacked and the passengers kidnapped at Kabba in Kogi State.
When asked if he was contacted by officials at least, he said no official from the Ministry of Defence contacted him about the incident.
He added that he later visited Defence offices in Lagos and Yaba to ask for updates, but he was only told that they were “working on it”.
According to him, he heard on the news that six abducted staff had been released but when he checked, he found out that only four women actually returned, and his wife was not among them.
“When I heard that they said six were released, I felt very bad. If they released six, where is my wife? And where is the other woman, Mrs. Juliana Onwuzuruike?” he asked.
He confirmed that two of the families of the four released women he contacted, confirmed that their loved ones had returned with one still at the hospital, however his wife and Mrs. Onwuzuruike are still missing.
He pleaded directly with the Minister of Defence to take responsibility and provide answers.
“What I am actually requesting now is that the Minister of Defense should tell me where my wife is. Because she was sent on official assignment and up to now, they have not come out to tell me where my wife is. After the abduction. And these four have been released.
“So I want them to tell me where my wife is. Whether she’s dead or alive, they should come out and tell me. Otherwise, I don’t know what else to do. If it requires they are going to Kogi State to search for my wife, whether she is dead, like I said, or alive, they should do that.
“I have not seen them taking any proactive measures. So all I want from them is to let them come out and see a way of bringing out my wife, wherever she is, together with Mrs. Juliana Onwuzurike, the two of them who are nowhere to be seen,” he pleaded.
He also pleaded that authorities should reach out to
the transport company, accusing them of hiding information and avoiding the families.
“The company’s director most of the times when we call, he does not pick our calls. Sometimes you make an attempt to reach him in the office, he will be nowhere to be seen,” he said, calling on the police and other agencies to speak up and take action.
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