End of the road for Ejima Nwaokwu.
4 min read
The saying that every day is for the thief and one day is for the owner of stolen items dramatically played out in Umuaka last week as time, a heavy trickster dealt a dangerous blow on Umuezikoha Uba born criminal who has been on the most wanted list of the police and DSS in Imo State and beyond. Over the years the police and other security agencies in Nigeria have mounted serious surveillance on the criminal popularly known as Ejima Nwaokwu, (his real name is either Peter or Paul) and he has taken part in several armed robbery and kidnapping expeditions in both Njaba and Isu LGAs as speculations had it.
Yesterday being Friday May 17, 2024 was a day many Akalites will not forget in a hurry in the years to come. On this eventful day, about three burials and other ceremonies were held in Umuaka and Ejima Nwaokwu knew that several VIPs would attend the burials etc he and his gang decided to try their luck on this eventful day but unknown to them, time indeed had an end of the road appointment with him. As usual, the gang members set out for their business of kidnapping in Umuaka.
Ejima Nwaokwu being the gang leader had to do the impossible to make sure success would be achieved at last. He fearlessly led the team to work. For those who never knew the guy in question, he commanded heavy respect accompanied with fear among members and colleagues of several criminal gangs. Even the public was afraid to mention his name in any gathering. In the local parlance, “they no bon you well to speak ill of the Devil’s anointed ejima. Unless na die you wan die.” This is the kind of criminal personality Umuaka had to contend with over the years in the person of Ejima Nwokwu who lost his twin brother in a similar circumstance more than 10 years ago.
Unconfirmed reports had it that the gang had mounted an ambush for Prince Chinonso Meremikwu popularly known as Arthur, where he had gone for a condolence visit in Umuele on the same day. As he was driving out in his black Range Rover Sport, the gang tried to flag him down and he refused after suspecting they were kidnappers. He sped off. This provoked the kidnappers and they gave him a very dangerous chase in about 4 or more motorcycles.
The ambush took place in Umuele and Arthur not minding how bad the road from Afor Umuaka to Umuele is, terribly drove successfully to escape from the kidnappers. He was indeed lucky.
As he was running for safety, he remembered that he had seen some soldiers at the burial ceremony in Ugbele, when he was coming home some hours back. He decided to run down to Ugbele to take cover with the protection of the soldiers. This worked out perfectly for him. As he reached where the soldiers were stationed, he hurriedly alighted from the SUV and ran towards them shouting, “kidnappers! Kidnappers!! They want to kidnap me.” Immediately, the soldiers swung into action!
The ring leader of the gang, Ejima Nwaokwu, jumped down from the motorcycle carrying him while trying to give Arthur a chase. He never knew that soldiers were at the scene; when he suddenly sighted them, it was already late for him to escape successfully. The soldiers gave him a few seconds chase. In less than 5 minutes, the body of Ejima Nwaokwu lay lifeless behind one particular shop where he had tried to escape from unsuccessfully. End of the big hunt that lasted close to two decades.
When other gang members on motorcycles noticed the presence of soldiers at the scene, they made a U-turn one after the other and disappeared from the scene. One of them was not lucky enough as he was said to have sustained a serious bullet would.
During the chase to kidnap Arthur, It is on record that the kidnappers were not giving him a mere Formula One chase, they were also shooting at his vehicle as they chased him. Umuaka Times later gathered that his parents and sister were in the vehicle during this ugly experience. It was a real miracle that none of them sustained bullet wounds during the devilish encounter.
During the time of the abortive kidnap attempt which started in Umuele and ended in Ugbele, guests who came for the burial ceremony ran helter skelter at the heat of the crisis. There was indeed a social disorganization after gun shots had rented the air during the attack. About two hours after the killing of the kidnapper, the Njaba Police Division came to the scene and carried the corpse of the man who lived in crime and died I crime.
