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| Ex-Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State…The Man who gave the late journalist his last job |
list of brutal murders lengthened last weekend with the killing of Ben Onyechere,
a political communication specialist, in Owerri,
Imo State by some still unidentified
marksmen.
His last engagement was in Abia State
as Special Adviser on Communication to the immediate past governor, Theodore Orji.
He was reportedly trailed from a supermarket where he had shopped before being
double-crossed, his driver shot in the legs and he bundled away. A search party
who scoured the city overnight eventually found his body Monday morning not faraway from
where he was abducted.
I have fond memories of Ben. Though
we last spoke a long time ago, we had spent virtually four or five days
together in 2006 in Boston, United States attending the World Igbo Congress (WIC). My then
colleague at The Sun, Dr. Amanze Obi, and I took a big suite
at the Marriot Hotel. Ben joined us.
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| Who Killed Ben Onyechere? |
would end so gruesomely. His blood is crying for justice.
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our stay in Boston.
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| The Author, Louis Odion wants justice done to the crying blood of an old colleague |
An inexhaustible bag of native humour, Ben
continually regaled us with funny anecdotes gleaned over the years from his
intimate encounters and associations with generations of Igbo political and business leaders. One of whom is former Vice President,
Dr. Alex Ekwueme.
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| Director General of the Nigerian Secret Police, Lawal Daura….His Men could unravel the mystery behind Ben Onyechere’s death |
Back home then, OBJ’s fevered bid for
Third
Term had just been killed and buried at the National Assembly. So, that formed the staple of side-talk at the
usually boisterous WIC.
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| Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Idris….His Men are not known to beat the game in unraveling a case like this. Can they make history? |
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Predictably, Ben saw in that an
opportunity for Ndigbo to close ranks
and push for a president of Igbo
extraction in then pending 2007 general elections. Having witnessed first-hand
the Biafran quest brutally cut down
in the 60s as a youngster, he was always anxious – in fact emotional – about
the place of Igbo man in the Nigerian enterprise.
