Follow Us on Google
More than one year after surviving a terror attack in Igbeti community, Zaki Biam Local Government Area of Benue State, a professional sports scout, Mr. John Chidiebere Kpechi, has remained missing, leaving his family in anguish and uncertainty.
His widowed mother, Mrs. Grace Kasie Kpechi, who hails from Umuezunu village in Nawfia, Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State, made a passionate appeal to journalists, saying she has neither seen nor heard from her son since the incident.
“In the past year, I have not seen or heard from my son, and I do not know what has happened to him,” the distraught mother lamented.
According to her, Chidiebere was caught up in a terror attack in the early hours of August 28, 2024, when armed men stormed a residential compound where he was staying with his childhood friend, Mr. Alphonsus Ezeka, a pharmaceutical dealer from Enugu-Ezike in Enugu State.
Ezeka, who spoke alongside the missing man’s mother, recounted that the attackers invaded the compound firing gunshots, forcing him and Chidiebere to flee for safety.
He explained that they escaped through a back door and ran in different directions, adding that he has not seen or heard from his friend since that night. Asked whether he reported the incident to the police after returning to his apartment the following day, Ezeka admitted that he did not, describing such action as “pointless.”
Other News
“To report would have been a mere formality. Given the state of anomie that characterises life in parts of Benue State today, victims, especially non-indigenes like us, often just lick our wounds and try to stay safe. Most cases are not even documented by the police,” he alleged.
On whether the attack may have been specifically targeted at Chidiebere, Ezeka said he had no such suspicion.
“However, the situation here has become so volatile that one may not even know when one has offended someone. You don’t know who is who, the good or the bad, who works for who, who is an undercover agent and who is a spy for the terrorists,” he added. Despite the uncertainty surrounding the circumstances of the attack and her son’s disappearance, Mrs. Kpechi said her greatest desire is simply to find him alive.
“My most fervent prayer is that the world helps me to locate my missing son,” she pleaded.
Chidiebere, originally from Umuezunu village in Nawfia, Anambra State, grew up in Enugu, where he developed a long-standing friendship with Ezeka. The two reconnected by chance when Chidiebere travelled to Zaki Biam to scout for sporting talent in the area. The region has, in recent years, been troubled by insecurity, with several charitable organisations and individuals working to support displaced persons and rebuild affected communities.
Family members have appealed to security agencies, community leaders and the general public for assistance with any information that could help trace the whereabouts of the missing sports scout.
