John Ohiri, an indigene of Agbaji in Nwangele Local Government Area, Imo State and successful spare parts dealer based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has been in distress since November 19 last year. His life took a pathetic twist when he returned from work on that fateful day and discovered that his wife and three children were nowhere in sight.

Where could they be? Ohiri wondered. He called the phone number of Stella’s sister, Onyinyechi, to know whether they were at her place, but she answered in the negative. An incident that started like a joke soon turned into a sorrowful reality, and since then, Ohiri has searched in vain for his family members.

Narrating his ordeal, Ohiri said: “On November 19, a Friday, I gave my wife money to prepare soup as I was going to work. I went to the shop but when I came back, I didn’t see my wife and my kids.

“I called Onyinyechi to know whether my wife and kids were at their place but she said no. I called my elder brother, who lives along Iwofe, but he said my wife and kids were not there. I also called my elder sister in the village and my in-laws in the village but they all said they never saw my family. I reported to my pastor.”

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“But I didn’t know where she went to. I was running up and down to have a clue of where she could have gone to.

“On Sunday morning, I decided to pay a surprise visit to Onyinyechi to know whether she was saying the truth.”

Ohiri said on his way to Onyinyechi’s place, he saw his neighbour, Victor, who told him that he saw the wife when she came to take a few of her belongings including a travelling bag. Victor also claimed that he did not know the whereabouts of the woman.

He said all the efforts he had made to locate his wife had proved abortive as her phones were switched off. Ohiri has reported the matter at Ada George Police Station.

The visibly traumatised Ohiri, who broke down in tears, said Onyinyechi invited some of her in-laws, who came and was told about the development. But instead of joining him to search for their daughter, Ohiri’s in-laws dealt him a deadly blow. They accused him of killing their daughter and his three children for ritual purposes. The man among them insisted that Ohiri killed them to enable him purchase his exotic Toyota Venza car.

They did not stop at mere allegation; they reported to the police and entered a statement against Ohiri. The police arrested the devastated father and took him to their station. In the presence of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), the in-laws repeated the allegation and one of them gave him a dirty slap before the DPO. “This was the most devastating part of my ordeal. It compounded my headache and made me shed tears. I couldn’t believe that my in-laws could fabricate such lies against me. But the DPO did not believe them.

“Their brother said I killed my wife and my children to enable me buy a Toyota Venza car. The brother stood up and slapped me in the presence of the DPO. But the DPO held and detained him.

“They wanted to detain me but I resisted it and informed them that I made an entry a day before that day. They said I should show proof of the entry.

“I called the policeman who took my statement. He came and confirmed that I made such entry. But the policeman said he could not process the statement because he was ill.

“They still detained me for two days. The DPO still called me and asked me to explain what happened. I still explained everything.

“He told my in-laws that it was impossible for me to kill four people without any trace. He called for my release. My in-laws were still anxious to get me detained.”

The police immediately commenced investigations into the whereabouts of Ohiri’s wife and his three children. They asked Ohiri to invite his neighbour, Victor, to come and write a statement but Victor declined. Ohiri said he was asked to pay N250,000 to track his wife’s phone.

He said the police discovered that a particular number called his wife 26 times. But when the police called the number, the woman who picked it claimed that her husband used the phone to make the calls.

He said: “They asked the woman why she made 26 calls to my wife’s number. The woman said the calls were all made by her husband. She said she didn’t know the whereabouts of her husband. The police held the woman.

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“I went home and changed the padlocks to my apartment. I didn’t go anywhere. I stayed at home to know whether my wife would come and pick other things. I heard a noise. I came out and discovered that a Hausa man was opening Victor’s apartment.

“I asked how he got the keys. He said Victor and his friends were in a tinted vehicle on Ikwere Road, wound up. He said Victor gave him a phone for communication and asked him to get him a few things.

“I told my other neighbour Samuel to hold the Hausa man for me so I could go to the police station and report the development.

“The police prepped the Hausa man and asked him to lead two policewomen to where Victor was waiting for him. Three of John’s in-laws also joined the team while Victor was asked to stay back at the station since he could easily be recognised by Victor.”

Ohiri said when the policewomen attempted to arrest Victor, he escaped and nearly used his vehicle to kill them. They, however, gave him a hot chase using motorcycles to apprehend him and brought him to the station.

He said: “I have been suspecting Victor. Since the incident happened, he had been secretly moving his belongings out of his apartment. I begged the police to interrogate him, that he would know the whereabouts of my wife and children.

“Victor spent the night at the station. But the next day, his people came and called one policewoman from Kala, who came and took Victor on bail. But my in-laws were still claiming that I killed their daughter and my children. I remained devastated.

“But the Commissioner of Police asked the Ada George Police Station to carry out a thorough investigation.

“I took the pictures of my wife and children to a television station and paid the station to declare them missing. I went to anti-kidnapping unit of the police to explain myself because my in-laws were on my neck.

“While I was at the anti-kidnapping unit after making another statement at 9pm, they asked me to sit down somewhere. I sat down there till 2 am. They called me out and surrounded me with guns. They asked me to repeat everything I entered in the statement.

“I repeated everything, but my in-laws were still insisting I used them for rituals. But the head of the anti-kidnapping asked me and my in-laws to form a team and begin to look for them. He gave us two weeks to find them. We resorted to prayers and my in-laws even resorted to other spiritual means.

The Nation