Wives of abducted Ebonyi engineers protest in Abuja after four years

Wives and relatives of five engineers abducted in Ebonyi State in 2021 staged a protest on Monday at the Federal Ministry of Works in Abuja, demanding information about the whereabouts of their husbands nearly four years after the incident.

The engineers, employees of NELAN Construction Limited, were kidnapped by armed men in November 2021 while supervising construction work on the Abakaliki Ring Road project.

The missing engineers were identified as Nelson Onyemeh, Ernest Edeani, Ikechukwu Ejiofor, Samuel Aneke, and Stanley Nwazulum.

According to the families, the engineers were abducted while working on the Abakaliki Ring Road project, an infrastructure initiative financed by the African Development Bank to improve traffic flow and connectivity within the state capital.

The protest, supported by several civil society organisations, highlighted what the families described as prolonged silence and lack of accountability from authorities regarding the fate of the victims.

During the demonstration, some of the wives and relatives carried placards urging the Federal Government to intervene and ensure justice for the abducted engineers.

Speaking during the protest, Esther Aneke, wife of Samuel Aneke, appealed to the government to help locate her husband or clarify his fate.

“My name is Mrs Esther Aneke. I am the wife of engineer Samuel Chibike Aneke, who went to work. He left me in Adamawa on October 30, 2021, to Ebonyi.

“He left me two months and two weeks pregnant. I’ve been like that up to now. I have not seen him; I didn’t see his corpse.

“Please, I am asking for justice. Please, they should release my husband wherever he is,” she said.

Also speaking was the mother of Stanley Nwazulum, who described the emotional and financial toll of her son’s disappearance.

“My son is the youngest among the engineers. He was just 33. He used to be responsible for my hospital bills.

“Since 2021, I have not seen him; I do not know where he is. Please, I need justice for my son.

“I need the government to tell me where my son is,” she said.

The engineers were abducted during the administration of former governor Dave Umahi, who now serves as Nigeria’s Minister of Works under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Responding to the protesters, the Director of Human Resources at the ministry, Ahmad Muhammad, said the matter was already before a court of law.

He explained that the incident occurred within the jurisdiction of the Ebonyi State government and therefore falls primarily under state authorities.

“I think this has to be addressed in Ebonyi, not in this office. This is a federal government office, and this matter is in the court.

“When the matter is in court, nobody has the right to do anything,” Muhammad said.

Despite the ministry’s response, the families insisted that the Federal Government must take responsibility because the project involved international funding and public infrastructure development.

The abduction occurred during a period when kidnapping and attacks on infrastructure were rising across parts of Nigeria, particularly in the South-East.

Data from the Nigeria Security Tracker indicate that at least 2,944 people were kidnapped nationwide between January and June 2021 alone, highlighting the scale of the security crisis at the time.