My son keeps crying for his dad — Widow of policeman killed by Ombatse cult
JUNE 30, 2013
•Christian’s mother, Mrs. Ibekwe
Evelyn, wife of one of the over 100 law enforcement agents massacred recently by the Ombatse cult group in Nasarawa State, is still inconsolable just as her first son keeps asking for his father’s whereabouts,GBENGA ADENIJI reports
One does not need a soothsayer to know that Evelyn Ibekwe is troubled. Her appearance portrayed it all as she walked to a bus stop located near her residence in Bagadry area of Lagos State to welcome our correspondent. As she feebly offered greetings, she led the way to her home with her two sons-Jehud (three years plus) and Joseph (a year and four months) in tow.
Evelyn’s husband, Christian, a police inspector, was among the over 100 law enforcement officers killed on May 8, 2013 by Ombatse cult group, during an operation in Nasarawa State.
With a face soaked in grief, she said after settling in one of the chairs in her living room, “I really do not know what happened to my husband. All I know is that on May 7, around 4pm, he called me from Lafia, Nasarawa State. He worked there while I work in Abuja as a police corporal. He told me that he was going with some other security operatives for a joint operation. I asked him to tell me the particular place where he was going. He said he did not know that they just called them and said they were going for a joint operation. The team, he said, included State Security Service operatives. He asked me to pray along with him and hung up. After about forty minutes, he called me back and said the location was a thick forest and that he only called me to put my mind at rest in case I called him and his number was not reachable.”
She further said she was worried thereafter especially when he described the place as thick forest, adding that she later tried his number several times that day and the following day to no avail.
According to her, when her husband could not be reached, she started hearing rumours later that day that some security officers were killed in Lafia while on an operation.
“That was when I began to fear for my husband. One of my brothers-in-law went to Lafia to see what happened and when he got there, he told me that I should calm down. He said there was no problem. Though he tried to calm me down, I suspected that my husband was dead. When I eventually heard what happened, I went to Lafia to identify his corpse. It was difficult to recognise him because he and others were burnt beyond recognition. I only used his trousers and boxers to identify him. It was difficult to get his body for burial,” she stated.
She also said a relative of a SSS officer, who was one of the victims, initially claimed that the body of her husband’s mangled body was his brother’s. She explained that because her husband had lost a tooth during an operation, the controversy was resolved because the SSS man had a complete set of teeth.
As she spoke, Jehud playfully struggled to get the recorder from our correspondent. Despite his mother’s mood, he innocently climbed her lap, interrupting the interview. Evelyn said she was at a loss on how to make their first son realise the fate that had befallen his father.
“I do not have a choice than to prepare for the time when our three-year-old son comes of age and tell him what happened to his father. Our first son is too young to understand now. I always say he travelled, each time he asks me about him. He asks me every day when his father will return. There was a time I tried telling him that his father was dead. He only laughed and went back to play. When we buried my husband on May 14, he was asking me whose birthday we were celebrating. People have advised me to wait until he is mature and try to tell him,” she said.
While recounting how she met her late husband in the police, Evelyn wondered why God joined them in marriage since He knew she would become a widow so early in life. She however noted that some people have advised her to take heart and draw consolation from the two kids that the five-year-old union had produced.
She stated, “But I think if I am not married, I could have coped easily because the grief of my husband’s death is too much for me to bear.”
Evelyn, who said she thought of quitting the police but was still holding on because of her love for the country, said she was not comfortable with the operation when her husband called to tell her about it. She also pleaded with SUNDAY PUNCH not to use her photograph because she is still in the police.
With a broken heart, she expressed the hope that since God knew about all that happened to her husband, He would not abandon her and her children. “He was a Christian and a very peaceful man. Before his death, he wanted me to resign so as to have enough time for our children,” she said.
Christian’s mother, Mrs. Celestina Ibekwe, said she was expecting a response from him concerning some money he promised to send to her to effect repair work on a newly-rented apartment when she saw a news flash on the television. According to her, she did not give it a thought until she called his number and realised it was not connecting.
Mrs. Ibekwe said, ‘‘I was still not bothered because I felt it was the usual network problem. I called his wife many times and she did not pick the calls. I was restless and went to church to pray. After the service, some elders came to my house, saying they were only visiting on the order of our Reverend Father. They prayed and read from Ecclesiastes 3 verse 6. They later told me that the priest said I should come with them. When I saw him, he started first by preaching about death before revealing that my son was among those killed in Nasarawa.”
She further said that when he finished talking, she saw the rest of her children standing before her. She reasoned that they were the one who came to break the news.
“I fainted and was revived in the hospital. I have seven children. Christian was the first and his cruel death is a shock to me. My son was a peacemaker and fun to be with. I find it difficult to believe that he was gone,” Mrs. Ibekwe stated.
She also said her late son joined the police when his father asked him to leave the University of Jos because of the religious crisis in Plateau State.
One of the deceased’s brothers, Nicholas, said his late brother would do anything to assist anyone in need. Lamenting that he did not deserve to die in a manner he described as horrible, Nicholas added that he was saddened by the lack of justice regarding the killing.
He said, “The police is yet to make any arrest and the perpetrators still walk freely. The government seems helpless. This is absolutely unacceptable. I’m still coping with the depression. Nothing has affected me this much before. My brother was the most adorable person to be with.”
Though they are making frantic efforts to put the sad event behind them, it is glaring that tears still well up in the eyes of the Ibekwes.
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