Bakassi boy murders undergraduate
• [b]Victim is 159th
•Bizman fights for his release
From OKEY SAMPSON, Aba
Wednesday, December 30, 2009


•One of Bakassi boy
Photo: Sun Publishing
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When on Sunday, October 18, 2009 Elvis Chinaka Nwadike,  20, left  his father shortly after a discussion, at N0. 35A Arondizuogu Street, Aba, that after- noon to see a neighbour who had just put a call on his cell phone, little  did he know he would  not return  to the same house alive nor see his father  again to conclude the discussion.

That move out of the apartment on its own, marked  the beginning of a journey that ended his sojourn on earth – a journey of no return. His life was brutally  cut  short  in the most  gruesome  manner.

Narrating the pathetic  story of  how his son who had just before then, gained admission into the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) to read petro-chemical  engineering was lured  by two of his neighbours and  supposed peer  group into the wicked hands of  a member of the dreaded Abia  Vigilance service (Bakassi Boys) simply  called  Kalu Bakassi aka Ogbu ngwa-ngwa (he who kills without hesitation) in their blood-letting fraternity, Mr. Boniface Nwadike  from Oburo, Ishi Ogwa in Mbaitoli Local  Government of Imo State, stated, “on the 18th day of October,2009, being a Sunday, I was in my house as I did not go to church that day”

The slain son after completing  his  morning chores that fateful day, at about 9.00 a.m came around  to tell his father he  would not follow them to attend their  family church, African Methodist Episcopal Zion church. Rather that he would worship at  nearby CMP Church, and  instead  gave his tithe  to one of his siblings  to  pay at the former.

But  behold death was lurking for him on that dark Sunday  in the most pathetic  manner. The dreadful Journey  to the great  beyond   started for  the young  Nwadike at about 3.05 p.m. “I was in the house with his mum  around 2.10 p.m when my  son returned  from church service”, started  the father of six  who is yet to come to terms as to why on earth  someone could callously murder his son.

Mr. Boniface Nwadike after wiping  out tears  that constantly ran down his cheek as he was faced with the stark  reality  of his first son’s exit to eternity more so the circumstances surrounding  his death, continued, “He told us that the sermon  he received at CMP made him felt he was in heaven.
“As we were deliberating on this, at about 3.05 pm, his cell phone rang and he brought it out and said oh! it’s a missed call. Then almost immediately the phone rang again and when I asked him who was calling, he said it was one boy called papa. 

“He stood up and made for the door to meet his caller. I followed him behind to see if I could know the papa.
“Before I could come out I saw my son, the said papa and another boy called Uchenna aka Game who also lives in the neighbourhood. Three of them  were strolling towards Ibadan street and as they went, I though it was the normal Sunday outing”.

But lo, it was not. Like Jesus, Elvis was betrayed by two heartless fellows who are in their early 20s and who one could aptly say were his friends  and play mates. But unlike the saviour, he never knew he was being led into the waiting hands of a hang man called Kalu Bakassi, a bestial who would butcher  and kill him like a common criminal. Within a short period, the deal had been done and behold, Elvis was no more! 

It was a callous  deal, planned and  perfectly executed  by the trio. When  Elvis as it were, was deceptively taken to Kalu Bakassi who was waiting somewhere, by his  friends and it downed on the  young man he was in for a trouble, he ran into a house,  No.103 Ibadan street, but there was no hiding place as Kalu Bakassi and an accomplice  who is still at large, pursued,  caught and put  helpless Elvis inside the boot of the M/ benz car they  came with for the operation and  drove off,

On reaching the Ibadan/Okoro road Junction, the assassins, who by then had  falsely  tagged Elvis a criminal  or so it seemed   and  cruelly applying  the crude and barbaric  method of eliminating perceived criminals by the Bakassi Boys of yore,  in their own world, sentenced the innocent boy to death and he had to be killed  immediately and so he was.

As the practice of Bakassi Boys  then was for any criminal caught, to be taken to his place of  residence for people around to testify  to his good character or otherwise, but in Elvis’ case he was the one rather pleading  with his assailants to be  taken to where  he lived for people who knew him to attest to his  impeccable character and not even his identity card he showed them could sway his killers.

People who were watching the unfolding drama from afar, were pitifully drawn the boy’s pleadings. Incidentally, the surging  crowd were forced to lollop  when the killers shot sporadically into the air, leaving  Elvis to his fate. The coast now clear, Kalu Bakassi used his well sharpened  machete to gave several  deep cuts on Elvis and as his victim  was still gasping for breathe, the hit man went for kerosene  and set him ablaze. The deal accomplished,  Kalu not stupefied, with  stupendous gaiety coasted back to base, not giving a hoot about his action.

Back home, Elvis’ father never knew what  had befallen  his son even when he saw the  three merchants of death move in susceptible manner passed in front  of his house at different times without his son whom they went out with. He never questioned  them about the boy’s where about because  he did not believe  any thing untoward  could happen to him,  but he was wrong.

The gory picture of his son’s brutal murder started staring Mr. Boniface Nwadike on the face soon after that. As he put it, “at about 3.45pm that Sunday,  I was sitting in front of our house when I  saw the boy called papa, he was  holding his shirt in his hand, sweating and running  towards Arondizuogu street (where he lives).  Not quite  ten minutes after that, I saw the man called Kalu Bakassi (I knew him earlier) he drove in his 230 V-boot m/benz along Arondizuogu street with  out his shirt  on and also sweating.

But Nwadike  still never suspected  anything. He did not know that Elvis born on Sunday July 27, 1989, had been murdered by Kalu that Sunday afternoon. But the bombshell came minutes later: “At about 4.10 p.m my daughter, Miss Ogechi Grace Nnadike ran to me and said his brother had been killed and his body set ablaze. I did not initially believe her, but when she persisted, I fainted only to be resuscitated the following morning by 7.30.

Was Elvis, who was popularly known  as Sunny boy (the additional name his father gave him    because he was born on a  Sunday)  a robber? Why would he be  killed like a common criminal? His  elder sister, Ogechi has this to say,  “Prior to that time, my brother (Elvis) had told me that the boy called Game had warned that he (Game) would  kill him like a common criminal. When I  asked him why, he said he would explain  later, but he never did before he was killed.

“But it was another pf my younger brothers Chukwuemeka that told me sunny was moving out with one girl by  the name Blessing and Game had warned him (Elvis) to keep away from the girl or he would get him killed”. Ogechi said when she confronted her late brother on  the issue, he told her he had called it quits with the girl in question  as he wouldn’t want to bear the wrought of anybody more over when the  issue  at stake was woman. But Game as it later  turned out to be, had already made up his mind and set out to play a dangerous game.
There is another angle to the murder  being fronted by counsel to the family of the slain boy, that is he might have been a victim of ritual murder.     

Albeit  no vital part of his body was  removed, but the lawyer based his reasoning on the premise that Kalu  Bakassi came back the following day to  take away  the charred  body of his  victim  and for the fact that a prominent business man in Aba in whose  house  the assailant is said to be living, is  making every spirited  effort to get him  released on bail.

Kalu Bakassi who confessed that Elvis was his 159th victim is strongly believed to be working for the prominent  businessman, who despite the fact that the  assailant’s v-boot m/benz  car which was recovered  by the  police with the blood stained were match,  from the  man’s  house along Okigwe road has continued to deny that Kalu was not  living in his house but merely  parked  his car there.

But that is by the way. The  main thrust of the matter is, if Elvis was a  criminal as the killers action  tend to  portend or suggest, is Kalu Bakassi who  hails from Amoji, Okoko Item in Bende  Local Government of Abia State and whose duty post as a so called Bakassi  Boy, is Ukwa East, has the right, jurisdiction speaking  to handle a case in Aba  south  and single-handedly too?

Interestingly, Kalu unlike in his previous dangerous exploits is alone in this matter. His colleagues have distanced themselves from  him. He went beyond his brief  and  has  to pay the prize they reasoned and rightly too. For this reason, members of the group volunteered information  that led to the killer’s arrest.

The Ogwa community living in Aba have vowed to see to the end of this matter and are all out to support Mr.  Boniface  Nnadike, a school principal and  the father of the slain boy, get justice. According to  the chairman of the Oburo Ogwa development  union  in Aba, chief  Chima Anosike, “we took the decision because  of the late  boy’s credibility  and that of  members of  his  family which are  not in doubt.

The police at the Ndiegoro Police station where the matter was initially reported to, handled it with lavity as they released  all 7  persons arrested  in connection with the gruesome murder. The Ogwa community in  Aba, sensing something sinister, through  their lawyer, wrote a  petition to the   Inspector General of police, Mr Ogbonna  Onovo who immediately directed the  Zone 9 police in Umuahia, to take over the matter. Ironically, when Mr. Barnabas Ogu the new IPO arrived Aba to take over the case file, he was told there was non as the police at Ndiegoro claimed there was no arrests made.

At present however, the matter has been started afresh and four suspects, including Kalu Bakassi and Game have been arrested. Kalu has been paraded for identification by the police at the very scene of the incident and no few than 35 persons physically identified him as the killer of Elvis aka Sunny boy.
But the pertinent question here is, if Kalu Bakassi could  be so closely linked with the dastardly act, why is the prominent businessman who is said to hail from Abiriba in Ohafia local government of Abia state, so desperate to get him released on bail at all costs in a matter if convicted carries capital punishment? [/b]

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2009/dec/30/national-30-12-2009-04.htm

its such a shame that bakassi still exists in south-eastern nigeria.

may elvis rest in peace,and god give his family the fortitude to bear the lost. and i pray they get justice.

The wickedness and inhumanity of Africans towards each other knows no bounds.What a gruesome way to die.