Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
The resurgence of criminal activities in Enugu-Ezike town, Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area, Enugu State has become a source of major concern and worry to residents and stakeholders alike in the area.
Before now, with the introduction of Neighbourhood Watch in various communities in the town and another crack squad known as Central Body who complements the work of the police in the area, crime was to a large extent curtailed. Before these interventions, there were rampant cases of motorcycle snatching, burglary, rape and stealing coupled with instances of mysterious killings.
However, apprehension has set in again following recent reported cases of motorcycle snatching and other criminal activities associated with youths in the area. To stem the tide of such crimes, women in the area have gone spiritual, resorting to prayers while some communities also organised crusades and prayer summits.
Perhaps as a divine response to the cries and prayers of the concerned individuals and communities in the area, some acts hitherto hidden and committed in secret have started manifesting and the perpetrators exposed.
Such was the recent startling confession of a 15-year-old boy, Chimaobi Odoh who confessed how the charm he procured from a native doctor in Mkpamute-Ulo community, Enugu Ezike has helped him to steal uncontrollably, undetected and also made him have easy and free access to sleep with any woman he fancied no matter the status.
Already three females, including a bursar in a secondary school have already fallen prey to Chimaobi’s charm while he had lost count of several times he stole cash hidden in various houses undetected. He was already waiting for an opportunity to test the efficacy of the gun protection charm before he encountered a superior power that made him to surrender and confess.
Road to confession
Sunday Sun learnt that Chimaobi was born in Inyi community, Enugu-Ezike, Enugu State. He allegedly started manifesting signs of criminal activities early in life and it was in the course of seeking for ways of reforming him that his family sent him to go and live with Rev. Sis. Martina Oforka in Ogbodu community. Sis. Martina is the mystic Nun that experiences stigmatic signs akin to the pains and wounds with bleeding experienced during the Passion of Jesus Christ on the way to Calvary. After staying with Sis. Martina for some time, Chimaobi continued stealing even when Sister warned him severally of the consequences of his action. At a time, he fled from Sister’s home and relocated to another community. On returning home after two months, Sister Martina told him that she is no more comfortable harbouring him in her home. Because Sister normally receives spiritual signs and messages while experiencing the passion pains during the Lenten period, she told Chimaobi to expect the worst if he remains adamant in his ways. Surprisingly, sister’s warning to him later came to pass. Sister Martina gave the reporter further insight on how the whole thing blew upon.
“I felt disturbed within my spirit that the boy has become something else when he came back to my home after running away for two months. I approached him to find out what has been happening to him since then, but he wasn’t forthcoming and I decided to make him a prayer point during the passion pains. I told our Lord to give me more signs about this boy when I enter into trance during the passion and so it happened. When I regained consciousness on Friday morning, I called Chimaobi and looked him straight in his eyes and his countenance changed. Along the line, he fell and began to confess and I had to call my assistants to come and record him because my ears were literarily filled up from what I heard him say he did.
And Chimaobi began to sing like parrot
Still under the ‘anointing’ from Sister Martina, boy Chimaobi revealed all his exploits with the charm prepared for him by one Abudu, a young native doctor from Mkpamute Ulo community whose father, (name withheld) is a senior native doctor who specializes in Odeshi (a gun protection charm), among other acts. Coincidentally, the senior native doctor is the chairman of the Neighbourhood Watch of the community. Unable to stomach all that Chimaobi confessed and the consequences of the charm on the people of the community, Sister Martina and her workers summoned courage and alerted the traditional ruler of the community and the elders-in-council of Mkpamute Ulo community so that they could hear directly from Chimaobi how one of their sons, whose father is the Chief Security Officer of the community has been fortifying young boys and men from different communities with deadly destructive charms to go and continue stealing. The traditional Ruler of Mkpamute community, Igwe Boniface Ujah who was startled about the confession and implicating of his subject, Abudu, fixed a date for the main confession last Saturday.
Present during the meeting witnessed by our reporter were the Onyishi (the eldest man in the community), Joseph Ngwu Idoko though represented by his spokesman, Chief Peter Idoko, other members of elders-in-council and stakeholders like Chief Luke Apeh and a security expert, Chief Samson Momoh who is a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police.
After preambles and presentation of kolanuts, Chimaobi was summoned to repeat what he confessed to Sister Martina again before the elders and stakeholders.
“Abudu placed the touch-and-follow charm in a fez cap for me”
Standing before the elders and stakeholders with other women listening, Chimaobi continued his confession giving a graphic account of how he procured the charm through Abudu and his exploits so far before Sister Martina arrested him in spirit.
“I used to live with Sister Martina until one day I decided to flee from her home. I went and stayed with one of my friends, Chikamma from Mkpamute Ulo community. In the course of our discussion, he told me that he made some charm, which has been working wonders for him through Abudu and I became interested. He took me to Abudu’s house and we interacted with him and left. I later went on my own to Abudu and he produced two charms for me, the touch-and-follow and the one I use to steal undetected anywhere. The touch-and-follow charm was fixed on a fez cap while he also gave me some incisions on my thumb nail. He also gave me another one that I chew after eating. We were at the verge of trying that of gun protection before Sister made me to confess. I had agreement with Abudu to be remitting half of all I stole to him. That of touch-and-follow was also tested on women and it worked perfectly (audience roars into laughter).
School bursar and other ladies fell victims of touch-and-follow
Brimming with excitement of procuring a charm that will give him free access to women and sex, Chimaobi went in search of ready victims immediately and the thing worked like magic. Unfortunately for him, at the verge of having real intimacy with his victims, intruders normally barged into them thereby spoiling the fun for him.
Narrating how far he went with the charm, he said the touch- and-follow charm was placed on a fez cap and anytime he touches his victim with it and makes a request, the person complies immediately.
“My first trial was with Chinenye. Immediately I touched her with the fez cap and told her that I love her, she followed me to a corner and I was already fondling her breasts when somebody bumped into us and raised the alarm. Same thing happened with Blessing too, but the one that really pained me was that of the school bursar who was well matured and endowed at the right places. I was already caressing her when Mmesoma noticed us and spoilt the fun for me.”
“I’ve stolen from Sister and others uncountable times”
Admitting that he has stolen several times from Sister Martina’s purse, Chimaobi said he stole amounts ranging from N10, 000 to N20, 000 at several moments that he has lost count. He also mentioned some gang members of his who also operates with the charm whose surnames were withheld by us.
“I cannot recall how many times I’ve stolen from Sister and others. Some of my gang members included Oluchukwu, Isaiah, Odinaka, Ozoemena and Ifebuche.
Community threatens to suspend the Neighbourhood Watch Chairman
While Chimaobi was giving his stunning confessions, the elders and stakeholders discovered to their chagrin that all the members of the vigilante (Neighbourhood Watch) who were at the venue of the meeting suddenly disappeared from the vicinity immediately Chimaobi mentioned Abudu, son of their Chairman as the one who prepared the charms for him.
The meeting also delegated some youths in the arena to follow Chimaobi so as for him to spot the actual place he visited for the charms. The delegation came back with him and confirmed that it was the house of the chairman of the vigilante that he spotted.
This discovery was greeted with serious uproar and the community became aghast wondering how their security committee chairman can be the one whose son and whose house was being used in preparing charms for stealing and immorality.
The meeting announced immediate suspension of the Security Committee Chairman and his deputy, pending the resolution of the matter. They noted that though election for new committee members is around the corner, it is proper that those already indicted should be suspended forthwith until the community gets to the root of the matter.
Sounding the alarm and opening can of worms
The mystic nun, Sister Martina in a remark noted that she decided to bring the matter to the elders-in-council and the stakeholders because of escalating crimes in various parts of the town.
She warned the community never to treat the matter with levity, noting that various crimes by youths in Enugu-Ezike as a whole are already having a contagious effect across several communities.
She commended the women in black who accompanied her to the meeting recalling the exploits of those women whom she disclosed were with her years back when they waged war against the circle of suspected ritual killings that swept across several communities in Igbo-Eze North.
She disclosed that the Women in Black accompanied her to destroy 286 deities causing havoc in several communities.
A stakeholder, Chief Luke Apeh while thanking Sister Martina for what she has done for the community recalled that what was playing out was really a manifestation of the fruits of the community prayer summit convoked in December last year where she ministered.
The security expert, Chief Samson Momoh in his own remark noted that when people begin to condone evil because of fear of the perpetrators, more danger awaits such community.
Chief Momoh lent his voice on the need to suspend the Chief Security Officer and others indicted in Chimaobi’s confession so that proper investigation can take off unhindered.
After deliberations, the meeting resolved and took Chimaobi to the police station where he was detained and his statements taken.
At the police station in Ogrute, Chief Momoh and the delegation met with the Divisional Crime Officer in the absence of the DPO.
As at the time of filing this report, police have launched a manhunt on the native doctor and all those mentioned by Chimaobi in connection with procuring of the charm and other criminal activities.
My adversaries are at work –Cyril
The man at the centre of all the accusations, Chief Cyril Onuh alias Ikeoha when contacted on phone denied all the allegations leveled against him.
Though he confirmed that he is no longer the chief security officer of the community, he said that his political adversaries used the accusation to tarnish his image.
“In a nutshell, the matter is a frivolous allegation, a trumped up charge. My son is not a native doctor and the same person you alleged confessed all these was induced to say all those things. All these are the handiwork of my political antagonists. They doctored all the allegations against me and my son and I stand to refute all they said. They were all falsehood meant to bring down my political profile.
“I was state secretary, PDP Disciplinary Committee, state Assistant Secretary, PDP, Zonal Secretary, PDP Enugu North Senatorial district and former chairman of vigilante in Igbo-Eze North for nine years and chairman of vigilante in my community, Mkpamute for not less than nine years without any problem or blemish.
“They felt that my political profile is rising and I’m popular and I was ready to challenge anybody undergoing any falsehood. I’m a social critic and those type of people who engage in this type of falsehood had at one time in year 2000 made one type of criminality allegation against me. It is the same preponderance of the same people that came up again this time because all their false allegation that I was a robber then, I was charged, detained, but the people they used against me in the matter came out openly in the court and before the Force Headquarters Abuja to admit that they were instigated to mention my name.
“They are only political antagonists and the people who are doctoring this allegation against me are being accused presently of embezzling community money running into millions of naira. I’m not a criminal and before now, I was an executive assistant to the governor and this matter was reported to the governor because they knew it was the handiwork of the opposition party who came up to fight me because I’m a staunch member of the PDP and I stand to remain in PDP till I die.
“My dear brother, without even knowing you or seeing you, I will not keep silent otherwise it might mean admission of guilt. They wanted to frustrate my law school exams, but no way. I’m waiting for my call to bar anytime from now,” he said.