P-a-t-h-e-t-i-c

From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri

“A father burying a son and not the son burying his father is the most traumatic experience a man can live with. Today, I stand here to bury you my son, Magnus, whom I named after myself, suddenly taken away from me by kidnappers. 

 

“His dreams were to go to school and do what his mates will do but his enemies have cut it short. He was my first son in whom I’m well pleased. Where is my peaceful boy that can not hurt a fly?”

These were the words of an agonizing father of a 26-years-old final year student of Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu- Alike, Ikwo (AE-FUNAI), Ebonyi State. Mr Magnus Ikechukwu Okeke Ubani spoke during the funeral of his son, Magnus Udoka Okeke Ubani on August 31, 2024 in his family compound at Umungwata Umuonyeocha, Umuokeh in Obowo Local Government Area of Imo State.

Almost the entire community came out to pay their last respects to Magnus, 26, who was kidnapped and beaten to death by a group of cultists at his school. The community was united in in grief as many wept inconsolably and others wore long faces. Indeed, raw emotion was on full display, as loved ones and acquaintances could not contain their despair.

In the face of unimaginable tragedy, the community came together in solidarity and love. Hundreds of people congregated in the home of a family torn apart. As the programme held, family members, friends and loved ones made a pilgrimage to the Okekes home in Umuokeh Obowo, Imo State.

His death is shrouded in mystery as questions are still being asked by the family and police why he was killed.

Those who knew Magnus testified that he was a young man of outstanding character. They said he can not hurt a fly. Unfortunately, he was brutally murdered by the cult gang outside the school’s premises and his body later dumped at a river side close to the institution.

His friend and roommate, Moses  Nduka, who saw it all from the beginning when he was abducted narrated his experience to Daily sun. He said that Magnus was abducted and brutally beaten by the deadly cult gang on 31 May, 2024 till he took his last breath after they were accosted by the hoodlums while returning home from work.Magnus and his friend had an extra year to spend in school for different reasons and had chosen to work while completing their final year.

So, on that fateful day, they were returning from work at about 5pm when two men on a motorcycle whom they later found out to be cultists attempted to knock Magnus down with their motorcycle. But he dodged them.

Thinking they had left, Moses said they continued their journey only for the riders to return almost immediately and beckoned on them to come. Moses hesitated but Magnus, not having any anything on his mind, decided to meet them. But that was the last time he would see him alive.

Moses narrated: “I and Magnus closed from work at about 5pm. We were students that had extra year. We were discussing outside when two men on a motorcycle tried to hit him but he dodged and they passed. We continued our journey home but they came back and called us.

“I didn’t like the way they called us, so I told Magnus let’s avoid them. But he said no, that maybe they wanted to apologise to us. I said fine but let’s drop our bags first because we had our phones and laptops inside our bags.

“I dropped my bag and he had already started moving towards them. He called me ‘fear fear’. He opted to go and answer them. So, I stopped as he went to them and they took him to a bar.

“When I got nearer to the bar, I noticed that they were discussing. They collected his bag, so I quickly ran outside to get help. Before I could come back, they were gone.

“I asked the bar man there where they have gone to and he said he was forcefully taken away on a bike. I started thinking aloud: it was  a bike and not a vehicle. Why would they force him to get on the  bike? I wanted to go to the police but they said I should wait for the landlord.

“When the landlord came, I described the person to him and he called the person ‘OG Royal.’ The landlord later took us to the youth president who made some calls and called someone named E Sammy. The president later took us to soldiers but when we got there with the landlord, the soldiers said they don’t investigate but to arrest and deal with criminals.

“They advised us to wait for 24 hours since Magnus was not a small boy and if he doesn’t show up then I should go to the police and report. When the landlord and youth president left for their various destinations. We started asking people and searching for him till about 1am when we got tired and went to our homes.

“Early in the morning again, I called Sammy and I told him Magnus was not yet back. So, we went back to the landlord who took us to a chief. He asked us to report the matter to the police and since that time, the case has been going back and forth.”

Meanwhile, the parents of Magnus had not been informed about the disappearance of their son. His mother who just came back from abroad was missing her son who she said she had not seen for a year as a result of her travel, although they’ve had been talking on phone. As a matter of fact, her last conversation with him was a day before the unfortunate incident.

Moses further narrated: “After two days, I decided to call his parents but the police asked me to calm down and allow them to make some investigations before calling his parents. I wasn’t convinced, so I had to call the dad immediately.

“The following day, the mum came. Later, his body was found beside a river. We started hearing one story to the other that he was a cultist but later they found out that he wasn’t one. The suspects later said they did a business with him worth N8.5 million. We asked them to prove it but they couldn’t prove it. And the most shocking thing is that they did not demand for any ransom.”

Just like Magnus’ father, his mother, Mrs Doris Okeke, was really devastated by the death of her eldest son that she could barely talk when our correspondent had a chat with her few minutes to his interment.

When she managed to open her mouth, she said: “My pet name for him was Udo, meaning peace because he was a peaceful person. He is known everywhere to be peaceful in the secondary school he attended and in our street. Since I gave birth to him, he has not made trouble with anybody. He doesn’t like anything that will bring trouble between him and anybody. He will quietly leave it for you, that was why I’m so surprised he died the way he did. I don’t know why good people don’t last.

“Magnus was my first son, a boy after my heart. He was so obedient; he runs my business when he comes back during the holidays. In fact, he would ask me to rest and he would take over the  business .

“My last moment with Magnus was last year before I went to the US. The incident happened on a Friday but I called his phone on Thursday and we chatted a lot. I asked him to come back so that I can see him and he said he would come after writing his last paper.

“I remember him saying that Ebonyi State is far and he doesn’t want to come back and go again. I told him I had a lot to tell him about my business and his father’s business before I go back to the US. That was my last conversation with him that Thursday morning.

“I will miss Magnus so much. He was so different from his siblings. He was so peaceful you can trust him with anything. He is not a greedy person. If you leave him in the house and go out,  just relax wherever you are  because he was not the type that will cause trouble before you come back. He doesn’t go out and if he does, it is for a reason. If he was going to a friend’s house and you tell him not to go, he will not. He was a kind of person that updates you whatever he was  doing every moment of the day.”

However, the heartbroken woman demanded for justice for her son’s death. “I want justice. Nigerians, please help me. Somebody said in Nigeria, you can’t get justice but I told them that God will give me justice because he was a peaceful person. I will fight for him with my last blood,” she said.

His father is also seeking for justice for his son. He equally blamed the school authority for what he described as their lackluster attitude towards the incident.

He said: “The school authority has not really been friendly; they were not reaching out. They have been political, the letter they wrote lacks substance. All they were trying to do was to exonerate themselves from the incident.

“Because of my son’s comfort, I asked him to stay outside the campus. He was not living inside their campus, so they felt it was something else. But moving forward, I think they should be more careful with their students.

“They should run the school with human face because the report is so huge. Students keep dying and nothing is being done about it. Students being kidnapped and families paying ransom. The incident was not the first. Parents who don’t have money lose their children. The school should be up and doing security wise.

“The suspects confessed that they were of Baggers confraternity. The first and second suspects are indigenes; they are Ikwo boys. The others are students. The one that is still at large is a final year Criminology student in that school. When they put a call across to him, he said they shouldn’t call him again that he wants to graduate. It sounds so funny he wants to graduate and doesn’t want my son to graduate.

“Magnus was a very quiet boy. I’m not saying it to praise him, he’s already gone. He would wake up in the morning and he would go to church before all of us. He would not wait for the family’s car. Even when we’re done with service, he would stay back and do his group’s meetings.

“The DSS in Ikwo tried to unravel his relationship with the suspects and they never found him connected to them. Even the school authority wrote that he was not a cultist. Even his landlord testified that he was not a cultist. The whole thing is shrouded in mystery and we don’t know where the arrow came from.

“His desire was to relocate to the US and further his studies because the mother was already in the US. I do my business here but I have partners there that often make me to travel there on business trips or vacation. So, his dream was to further his studies there and be more productive as a young man but his dreams have been cut short by hoodlums.”

Magnus’ roommate, Moses, also shares same view with his parents. He said: “I’m not supposed to be the one saying this because he was my friend and roommate. His house rent expired when he finished school. He couldn’t tell his dad and I don’t know his reasons.

“He came to me and said that he wanted to stay with me. That was how we became close although we’ve known each other before then but we were not that close.

“But what I know about Magnus is that he was very quiet. He liked being alone, he hated trouble and he was not a cultist. We’ve been able to prove that to the police.

“So, the big question is: why him? Believe me, this guy was in 100 level till 300 level in his department and nobody knew him. He comes to class and gently moves out. His favourite food was biscuits and sausages.

“We would cook at home and he would not eat. He would just buy sausage and biscuits. If you keep him in a room and if there is electricity supply, you won’t see Magnus for two or three months.

“He was always with his system playing games or watching seasonal movies. He goes to class and comes back. That was the kind of life he lived. Magnus was my personal assistant because I was the faculty president.”

Another classmate of Magnus, Emmanuel, said same thing about him. As a matter of fact, he believed his peaceful nature might have caused his demise. According to him, if Magnus had ignored those who attempted to knock him down with a motorcycle when they called him, he would still be alive today.

Emmanuel said: “Magnus was my friend. He was very peaceful. Maybe he would still be alive today if had not gone to answer those people who wanted to hit him with their bike.

“But in his usual peaceful disposition, he never thought he would be harmed. All he thought was that may be they had come back to make peace. He was very understanding. I have tried to hold back tears but it has not been easy.”

Mourners, who converged at Magnus’ family compound on August 31, also cried their hearts out. If only tears could bring the dead back, Magnus would still be alive.

House of Representatives member for Obowo/Ihitte Uboma/Ehime Mbano, Deacon Chike Okafor’s band played and sang emotional songs that further got the mourners wailing. Okafor, a two time lawmaker from the state is a cousin to the father of Magnus. He also opened the door for the sermon administered by Pastor Precious Opuwari of the Christ Embassy Ministry, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

People stood in mournful contemplation as music was played, prayers were said and sermons and religious parables were given.

As the sun began to set and the crowd departed, even more tributes were paid as people lamented the abrupt disappearance of a shinning star.