For two years, the family of the late candidate of Citizens Peoples Party (CPP) in the 2011 governorship election in Delta State, Chief Ogbe Onokpite, engaged the Nigeria Police in a legal battle over the death of the politician. During the period, several rounds of autopsy were conducted on Onokpite’s body to determine the cause of his death.
But all that seemed to have come to an end on December 28 last year as Onokpite’s body was finally laid to rest at his Ugolo-Okpe native town in Delta State. The late Onokpite was allegedly shot by some policemen at Beeland International Hotel, along Orhuwhorun Road, Udu Local Government Area, Delta State on November 26, 2011. He was accused by the police of engaging in gun-running, kidnapping and armed robbery. But the family has refuted the allegations, insisting that there was more to the death of the politician than the police would want the public to believe.
At the time Onokpite was allegedly shot, his wife, Helen, was said to be away in Canada to be delivered of a baby. The grief-stricken widow is still sad that her husband could not live to see his baby and the baby would grow up not to know her father.
Still miffed that her late husband was branded a criminal, she claimed that the man she married was an activist and a God-fearing man. She also described the late Onokpite as a caring husband and father “who the enemies did not allow to play a fatherly role in the life of her daughter as he had done in the lives of many down-trodden people in Delta State through his foundation, the Ogbe Forum.
“But to God be the glory for the gift of life, which no man has the right to take. I seek justice for my husband’s death. I wish to use this medium to appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan, Her Excellency, Dame Patience Jonathan, the Senate President, the Chairman Human Rights Committee of the National Assembly, the Inspector General of Police and all human rights commissions to help bring my husband’s killers to justice.
“I have been turned into a widow at an early age and left to look after a baby of three years. The quest for justice continues. The Lord is our strength.”
In a tribute to her husband, Helen wrote: “Ogbe, you were my everything. It’s so unfortunate that they made me a widow at a young age, thoughtless that death has no sacred cows. The death knell toils for everyone: the very young and old, male and female, affluent and the poor, the good and the wicked, the infirm and the weakest of all.
“They denied our little angel, Giggo, the opportunity of meeting you, hugging you or playing with you. A day came and Giggo asked me, ‘Mummy, where is Daddy?’ I could not give her a reply. That was the most tearful day since they took you away from me. I cried all day.
“My Ogbe, I will mourn your unlawful killing forever. You were actually dragged into death from this wicked world. My husband, my best friend, my soul-mate, my hero and my everything, I am proud of you.
“To live in the hearts of those you love is not death. You have transmitted from mortality to immortality. You are not dead but asleep in the Lord. Sleep on, my darling, in peace.”
The deceased’s widow was said to have spoken with her late husband from Canada for about 15 minutes, two hours before he was killed. According to Helen, Onokpite was full of life and was so excited about his two-year-old daughter, Omovigho, who was billed to start school the following Monday.
She recalled that Omovigho, who was with her in Canada at the time of the incident, was always excited to see her father’s picture and the family had planned to come to Nigeria on December 10 last year.
The widow said her husband was a man of the people who founded some NGOs to cater for his kinsmen, especially the youth. She said her late husband would forever remain alive in her mind, even as she charged the Nigerian government to do the right thing by bringing her husband’s killers to book.
Speaking at the burial, the officiating minister, Apostle Love Ededuwa, said: “It was the truth and his opposition to oppression that led to the death of Chief Ogbe Onokpite. It is better to die as a hero of truth than to die as a deceiver and corrupt person.”
Family members are also appealing to the government to bring Onokpite’s killers to book. They regret that rather than prosecute the suspects, the powers that be were trying to shield the culprits. Onokpite’s brother, Diemo, said he was disappointed with the attitude of the authorities to the issue.
Diemo said: “For more than two years that we have lost Chief Ogbe Onokpite, we are still waiting to get justice. It is common knowledge that he was assassinated. We have been waiting to get justice till date but no arrest has been made. We are still calling on Mr. President and the Inspector General of Police to look into the murder case.”
Pained that his brother’s killers were still roaming free, Diemo said he would not mind going to the International Court of Justice if he had to do so to get justice in the matter.
“There are laws in this country and there are international laws. If we don’t get justice on this murder case, we will be forced to go to the World Court and let the world know that some people in this country can kill and get away with it. We are asking for the policemen who have been implicated in the case to be prosecuted. It is a thing of surprise that the policemen alleged to have killed Onokpite were granted bail,” he lamented.
In a statement, one of the solicitors to the family, Odiana Eriata of Eriata and Partners, said: “There is a strong conviction that the late Chief Ogbe Onokpite had no primary issues with any law enforcement agent. Because before he contested the governorship election on the platform of Citizens Peoples Party, requirements of the law as to his eligibility were determined by the
appropriate authorities saddled with the obligations of screening to determine whether or not he was an eligible aspirant, qualified to contest an election as CPP
governorship candidate.
“The late Chief Ogbe Onokpite was killed on Saturday November 26, 2011. He was besieged, captured and shot in both legs at Beeland Hotel, Orhuwhorun Road, Udu Local Government Area of Delta State, and taken to Warri Police Area Command, where he was humiliated and summarily executed unlawfully.”
He added: “On Sunday 27th November, 2011, at about 7:30 am, a former Commissioner of Police, Delta State came to Warri and addressed a press conference and alleged that a petty criminal, a gun runner and an armed robber was killed by policemen in a gun battle with the police. To give effect to his assertions, he paraded one Mr. Okporokoro with two AK47 assault rifles and with 60 live ammunition.
“The police story was that Mr. Okporokoro was accosted at a police check point in a Honda car with registration number AM 528 JRT belonging to Chief Ogbe Onokpite, transporting two AK47 assault rifles and 60 live ammunition. The police further stated that Mr. Okporokoro confessed to the alleged crime and that he was sent by Chief Onokpite to deliver the arms and ammunition to one Mr. Agbara, who resides in Agaga community in Uvwie LGA.
“The police further stated that Mr. Okporokoro was asked by the police to direct them to where Chief Ogbe Onokpite was staying (Beeland Hotels). The police alleged that on their arrival at Beeland Hotels, Mr. Malik Okporokoro pointed at Chief Onokpite and that in an attempt by the police to arrest Chief Onokpite, he (Onokpite) fired at the police with a locally-made gun.
“The police said in fear of imminent danger and in self-defence, they fired at Chief Ogbe Onokpite to disarm him, and that the police were taking him to Warri General Hospital when he died on the way.”
Eriata, however, faulted police claims, saying the motive for the murder of Onokpite, according to investigations, was undemocratic and uncivilised. He wondered why the policemen involved would allow themselves to be used as tools.
In her own tribute, a former Commissioner for Education in Delta State, Dr. Mrs. Veronica Ugbuagu, described the late Onokpite as a dogged fighter for any cause he believed in and a hater of oppression.
She said: “I remember I told him about a fearful dream I had concerning him and I said it was not a good dream. I can go on recalling my dreams. I prayed deeply for him throughout the 2011 election period. I was shocked beyond words when the news of his death reached me.”
In a terse reaction to the latest lamentation from Onokpite’s family, the Delta State Command’s image-maker, Mr. Charles Muka, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said “an alleged accomplice of Onokpite Ogbe”, who was arrested with the late politician, had been charged to court.
He added: “I’m not aware that the matter has been withdrawn from the courts.”
