By Tony Adibe
Her story sounded like one of those stories from ‘another world’. Mrs Uloma Chidi Echefu is a teacher at one of the private schools in Owerri, capital of Imo State, southeast zone, Nigeria. At the press conference convened on Saturday, 17 October 2026 by the SouthEast Human Rights Bureau (SEHRB), consisting of the Oganihu Igbo Development Foundation and the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (INTERSOCIETY), Mrs. Echefu was among guests who were asked to narrate their unfortunate encounters with the Nigerian security operatives – the military, police, DSS, etc.
The secondary school teacher gave a graphic account of how, for almost five years now, armed security men (who adamantly and bluntly refused to identify themselves properly) stormed their residence at No. 13, Archdeacon Dennis Street, Ikennegbu, Owerri, Imo State, and invaded their apartment after knocking off the iron burglar-proof. The armed men took her husband, Mr. Chidiebere Luke Echefu, away, leaving no trace. The operation took place at about 2:15am and neighbours couldn’t come to their rescue because heavily armed security men were positioned at the ‘door of all our neighbours’.
According to Mrs. Echefu, her husband was born on 13 March 1976. He is 50 years old now, but he was arrested at 45 years old. Mr. Chidiebere Luke Echefu hails from Umuogbuanu Umucheke Okwe in Onu-Imo LGA of Imo State. He is a taxi driver and a farmer who plants cash crops such as bitter cola, yam, cassava and others. He has five children.
The worried and traumatized Mrs Echefu tells her pathetic story thus: “It was at our residence at Plot 216 Ikenegbu or No. 13 Archdeacon Dennis Street, Ikenegbu, Owerri, Imo State. At about 2:15 am on 7th November 2021. He (my husband) actually discovered that there were movements in the compound at that time. But before that time, sometime in June 2021, we were robbed because there was an armed robbery incident in that same compound.
So, this second time, he thought they were robbers. So, he told me that there were robbers in the compound and quickly raised the alarm three times: “O kwanu ndi oshi”, “o kwanu ndi oshi” (Meaning: They are armed robbers ooo! They are robbers ooo!). But they (the suspected robbers) shouted back, “Shut your mouth there. The whole compound is surrounded!” That was when we realized that the invaders stormed the compound as a troop. That was when my husband asked me to join the children in the children’s room. And these were children who were already traumatized by the last armed robbery attack in the same compound. So I left the room and entered the children’s room to pacify them. Let me also mention that at the time I was pregnant.
But at a point we observed that there was this contentious hitting and banging at our own flat. Then the burglar-proof came down. They kicked our door open and were bellowing, ‘where is that man that shouted?’ ‘Where is that man that shouted?’. He stepped out and said oh, sorry! May I know who you are? They were all armed and wore bulletproof vests. They were shouting why did you raise an alarm? The next thing they shouted was, where is your phone?
I was still in the children’s room listening to this conversation. My husband replied: My phone? Why ask for my phone? They hollered at him, where is your phone? Where is your phone? Let me also add here that I was the last person who used his phone because I didn’t have data in my phone, so I collected his phone. So when he searched around and couldn’t find it he told them it was with his wife. He brought the armed men to the children’s room. And because I wasn’t decently dressed, I told them let me dress up before I opened the door, but they started hitting at the door. I then opened the door. Before then they were asking him why would you be telling us that your phone is with your wife and all that?
No Common Courtesy To Identify Themselves
I had to intervene and said to the armed men, sorry, you have not even identified yourselves. You are not wearing an identifiable uniform for me to say you people are this or that security men. They said sorry madam, there is no need to be agitated. We are security operatives. I said, ” No, I don’t know any security outfit by that name. It’s either you are from the police or army or navy, and things like that. So which one are you coming from?
Well, the person that seemed to be the leader of the team said madam is like you are asking too many questions. He asked again, ” Where is his phone? I said, This is a very odd hour, assuming you came for an arrest. Where is your warrant for arrest? That question sort of angered them, and he said, ” Where is the phone? And I said ok, look at where I kept the phone. He went and picked it. And they took my husband. And I was screaming. Nobody is giving me an answer. Five-armed men came into our apartment.
I tried to follow them as they were taking him away. The leader of the team now assigned someone and ordered him never to allow me out. But I said it’s not happening that way. I said I had to know what was happening. So, they took him to the sitting room. And I was still insisting, please identify yourselves. The next thing they said was Who are your next-door neighbours? I was surprised. I asked, how are our next-door neighbours our concern? If you came for our next-door neighbours, I think the reasonable thing is to knock on their door. I said you broke into our compound and forcefully entered our apartment to begin asking about my next-door neighbours. That is wrong.
I must say that they were very tactful about their activity. They only had this small Nokia Phone torch, which they used so that one couldn’t easily recognize them. And they never allowed any light to be turned on. I had reached out for our rechargeable lamp to put it on, and they stopped me. So, it was only the Nokia Phone torch they were using. Then one pointed the torchlight to the wall and saw his portrait that was hanging on the wall. And he said, ‘oga make I go show am’. He went down and came back. Then he said, ‘e says na him’. He said, ‘ Get him handcuffed. I said, ‘ You people have never answered my questions.
You have not identified yourselves. You have not shown me any arrest warrant, assuming you came to arrest. ‘E say na him’. ‘E say na him do wetin?’ You have not answered my questions. I was screaming. And the leader of the team said to me, ‘ask your husband the question’. We have invited him several times for questions, but he didn’t come. I then said, ” Honey, when did they invite you? And he replied Could this be true, and I did not inform you. I then said, excuse me Sir, pardon me: Owerri is so hot at this time that even if it’s your street vigilante that asked him to come for interrogation, he has to be there.
28 Unidentified Corpses Dumped At FMC, Owerri
Let me also say this regarding the unidentified corpses. My husband lost his immediate younger sister on 28 May 2021; she just slumped and died.
So, I went to the FMC Owerri mortuary in respect for my sister-in-law who had died that night in May, and in my very eyes; I am not saying what I did not see. As I was in the morgue praying all the while, I heard the sound of vehicles, and my younger brother-in-law shouted Jeeesuuus! And I had to step out. What was happening? The police came with their Joint-Task-Force vehicle, in which they brought some corpses of young men and dropped them in the FMC morgue. They dumped dead bodies of young men – 28 in total; I am saying what I saw. The bodies had different bullet shots – on the head. And the only thing I would say I observed among them was that the dead were carrying tattoos, dreadlocks, or had a mohawk hairstyle etc.; that was the only thing you can say was identifiable with most of them.
The Order To Shoot My Legs
Now back to the story of my husband’s arrest. So, I said that with the happenings in Owerri nobody, no security agents would call you, and you refuse to honour the invitation. I said there was no invitation sent to my husband. You said he is the one. He is the one who did what? And asking my husband, who is his next-door neighbour, can’t be the reason to arrest him. You said you invited him, and he refused to come. Did you call him on the phone?
Did you email him? Did you send a text message or WhatsApp message? How did you invite him? The security team did not give answers. Did you send a handwritten letter or invitation? So, which means did you use in communicating the invitation to him? They now said, ” Madam, you are asking too many questions. And before I could say anything else, they moved him out and insisted that the other armed man should not allow me to come out after them. But I insisted on running after them, but they instructed the armed man to shoot my legs if I tried to come out. So, I was forced to stay back as I continued screaming that night.
The Day After He Was Taken Away
In fact, it was after the incident that I got to know from neighbours that the armed men who invaded our apartment assigned men to each door of our neighbours to prevent people from coming to our rescue. So, if you want to come out and you see an armed man already at your door, you would think that your safety matters. It was 7th of November was a Sunday morning, and it was around past 2: 15am. When it was morning, I started making phone calls because I couldn’t really explain who came to take away my husband.
Our Search Ended At The Police Commissioner’s Office
As we were being taken by a policeman around the police stations in Owerri to track my husband and the husband of the other woman who lived adjacent to our compound, the husband of the woman was taken away similarly to my husband. So, the search ended up at the Police Commissioner’s office, but after checking their records, there was nobody with my husband’s name on their records. So, they said if it was not within their own jurisdiction, let them check outside the state. So, when I returned from that search, I heard that the other woman whose husband was also taken away was in my house. She told me what happened to her own husband and the caliber of cars the security people came with.
DSS Owerri Denied Having My Husband In Their Custody
I had to call the police officer back to inform him what my neighbour, whose husband was also taken away told me and he said that this must be the DSS. This is their kind of arrest. We headed off to the DSS office several times, but they denied having such a case or men in their custody.
Then we got a lawyer since we now know that these must be the people involved. The lawyer sent people to go enquire, but the lawyers were detained. The reason was why come to ask for such person. What the allegations were, they never told us. We later got to know that he (the lawyer) had political interests, and he never wanted to concede.
A Revealing Phone Call From An Unknown Caller
Then precisely on 3 January 2023, I received a call from an unknown person that I saw your husband at the DSS Owerri, and he told me to inform you this is where I am. So, I had to alert my husband’s people and my own people about the call I got. Some three hours later, he (the person) called again and said that something happened; we were just in that cell for nine days together, and he was moved. If he is still within the facility, I don’t know. I don’t know if they changed cell for him. He was taken from the cell where I met him, but now I am out of their custody.
Yet Another Call From A Yoruba Man
So, that development now made us to start asking questions and now brought another lawyer into the matter. To also not bore you with a long story, on 5 March 2023, I got another call from a Yoruba man, and he told me I just left the DSS facility Headquarters Abuja, and I met your husband. This is what he said I should tell you. I called the line again, and he said this number I used to call you belongs to my wife, and I wouldn’t know if her number is being tracked like my own. So, the man said Let me get to where I can make a better and safer call, and I will tell you more. From my conversations with the Yoruba man, I was convinced that my husband was at the DSS facility in their Headquarters, Abuja. So, all efforts to see him, and to speak with him – all efforts from the lawyers – proved abortive.
First Breakthrough
The first breakthrough I even had to get to the DSS Headquarters was during the PRAWA 30th anniversary when Dr. Uju Agumo invited me. During conferences like this I spoke about his case and some lawyers got interested in it. And it happened that the Ordinary President of the Brekete Family Radio was in that meeting. He volunteered to take me to the DSS office. So, the following day, we went there and with his influence we were able to meet with the PRO of DSS. After all my narration, she didn’t admit that my husband was in their custody. And she didn’t accept he was not in their custody. Because if she agreed for me to apply for a family visit she has indirectly admitted that my husband is with them. I however wrote an application for a family visit to my husband which I submitted on 11 December, 2024. Although the conference was over, I waited to see if I could see my husband. I waited for response and there was no reply. I kept writing but I didn’t know if it got to them, anyway because I mailed them. Now the second letter which had acknowledgement receipt I had to give to a lawyer to go there and submit since I had written the one I mailed to them yet not reply.
First Call From My Husband Since 2021
It was not until 18 June, 2026 I got a call and that was his voice; he called me on the phone just three months ago. He said that he was just taken to court and that he has been remanded in Kuje Prison. He said he called just to ‘let you know where I am now’. I was wondering how come he was remanded in Kuje prison. I had to start asking questions. I said what happened? He now mentioned that during that period on the 23 March after he was moved from Owerri on the 6th of November, – which kind of tallied with what the other inmate told me on the phone – he was taken into custody on the 7th and on the 16 he was moved to Abuja.
Then on 23 March 2022, they took him from DSS Headquarters to Wawa Barracks. And he was brought back alone on 14 January 2023. They were 58 taken on the day he was taken to Wawa Barracks, the day they saw this woman’s husband, Ifeanyichukwu Arinze. But on the day, he was being returned, he was returned alone. He said he thought that was his final journey on earth only for them to bring him back at DSS Headquarters which was from where he was taken to court on the 17 June 2026.
Charges They Made Against My Husband
At the court, his case was adjourned without date for another hearing. Now look at the three-count charges they made against him: That he knows one Mr. Emeka Onuoha, who they said, happened to be an IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) member and he never reported. The number two charge was that he knows Mr. Ifeanyi Arinze who they said happened to be an IPOB member that he never reported. Thirdly, that Emeka Onuoha in one of the phone calls that they said they tracked told him that his brother sent N1million for groundnut; that the groundnut is the ammunition, to which my husband said he doesn’t know what they are talking about. So those were the charges they DSS said they had against him. Those were the three-count charges for which they had held him close to five years now. It will complete five years on 7 November 2026. These three charges – that you know this man is an IPOB member, and you didn’t report; you heard that this man said his brother sent N1Million for groundnut and that the groundnut means ammunition, and that is why the DSS has held my husband for close to five years now. This is the ordeal we have passed through. And I mentioned that I was pregnant at the time. That child has turned four years old and hasn’t set her eyes on the father. I know the trauma we had suffered.
Stigmatization & Trauma We Have Suffered
In fact, we had to even move out from where we were living because of stigmatisation, because nobody knew what offence the DSS accused my husband of. And because of the kind of vehicles and number of armed security men that surrounded our compound and the 3:15am time when they invaded our apartment to take him away – because of that – people around were accusing him of being a top-rank fraudster and all manner of criminalities. We had to move out of that vicinity because my children couldn’t go out freely, and I couldn’t. And because of the trauma, I nearly lost my life, and I am still battling High Blood Pressure. This is what we have been facing since he was taken away in 2021.
The Breadwinner of Our Family
My husband is the breadwinner of the family. I am just a secondary school teacher in a private school in Owerri. And those of you in Owerri know how much private school teachers earn. I have five children to cater for. This is where we are today as I speak. This is my ordeal in the hands of the DSS. This is my story. Recently, I have been trying to reach lawyers, but you know, with my poor financial background, I can’t really get that help, except if I get volunteers or human rights lawyers. For me to secure a lawyer that will go speak for me and my husband, it’s not easy.
At this point, the organizers of the press conference promised to give her a human rights lawyer who would render legal services on a pro bono basis (free legal service). And she thanked them immensely.
My Request To The Authorities Holding My Husband
My husband is being punished for nothing. Let them release him immediately with heavy compensation for wasting his five productive years.
