Circumstances surrounding my father's death, unknown gunmen activities chased me out of Nigeria

Circumstances surrounding my father’s death, unknown gunmen activities chased me out of Nigeria – Orlu Indigene

By : Matthew Ogune

Date: 30 August 2023 3:17pm WAT

A Nigerian, Nicholas Chimaobi Christian, from Umuaka village in Orlu Local Government Area (LGA) of Imo State, has offered insight into the reason he escaped from the country for a safer environment.

Christian, who spoke shortly before departing the country in January 2024, also disclosed that the situation led to the sudden disappearance of his aged mother, wife, and two children.

He noted that his family had also escaped attacks from unknown gunmen, maintaining that his aged mother, wife, and two children went missing after the last attack on his family compound.

Accusing vested interests around Umuaka village of being responsible for his father’s death due to disputes over his family land—where his late father, Izunwa Nicholas Chinasi, carried out mining activities—he maintained that he decided to leave the country after several threats to his life and that of his family.

According to him, the pressure on him and his family intensified when revelations emerged that oil had been discovered on the land and was due for extraction in the near future, leading to alleged plots to wipe out his entire family.

He said: “My wife, my two children, and my mother are nowhere to be found. My father died on October 24, 2022, and was buried on January 27, 2023, after which I ran for my dear life.

“The issue is that we have land in the community where my father was mining sand, and there is a tendency of getting crude oil from the land. There were vested interests in the land from both clergymen and community leaders, and that was what led to his death.

“When my dad passed away, they started coming after me as the next in line to continue from where my father stopped regarding the land. They knew that if they took me out, there would be nobody left in the family to lay claim to the land. That was the reason I ran for my life.

“Also, unknown gunmen attacked our family compound several times, but we managed to hide from them. After their last attempt, when we all ran our separate ways, I could not find my mother, my wife, and my two children to this day.”