An Anambra-based rights activist, Comrade Osita Obi, has called on all security agencies under the creation of the Nigerian Law to intensify efforts at rescuing 34-year-old realtor Benjamin Ezemma, popularly known as Big Ben, from the captivity of his abductors.
Recall that Big Ben, a co-founder and executive director at Dubai Estate Properties, was kidnapped on the 12th of November, 2024, near a popular hotel along the Awka-Onitsha Expressway.
Since the kidnap nearly three months ago, the victim has not been released, and the wife had, in a recent outburst, appealed to the government to rescue her husband.
During a breakfast meeting with journalists in Awka on Tuesday, Comrade Obi, who is the convener, the Recover Nigeria Project, said it is unacceptable that months after the realtor’s kidnap, he is still in captivity, explaining that he decided to speak out to draw the attention of all relevant agencies to the ugly development.
He said he is also speaking up because no one knows who would be next if such development is swept under the carpet.
According to him, if the security agencies cannot find Big Ben, they should capture his abductors to reveal his whereabouts and face the law.
“We must find Benjamin Ezemma, or we capture his abductors.
“If we don’t find him, we do not know who may be the next victim.
“We have systems to unravel these things- the Police, the DSS, the office of the National Security Adviser. What are they doing about the thing?
“What we are saying is that government should use these systems to identify where this man is.
“So, we want this thing to come to the front burner because we cannot continue like this. In this 21st century, people cannot be abducted and there is no account as to their whereabouts,” he said.
Obi also bemoaned the series of kidnappings that have gone down in the state without any action towards the rescue of the victims.
He called on the Nigerian State to deploy its systems to nip insecurity in the bud.
“Obiorah Agbasimelo of the Labour Party was abducted in 2021 and nothing has been done. Also, a sitting member of the Anambra State House of Assembly, Hon Justice Azuka was abducted since December and nothing has been heard till now.
“What is the police doing about all these? Can’t these people be tracked?
“We were asked to register our SIM cards for security reasons; what then is going on, and why are they not using them to track criminals?
“I talk of Nigeria as a nation-state. I am not talking about Anambra because the state government does not fund or control the Police, the DSS, the National Security Adviser, or the National Communications Commission that undertakes the registration of SIM cards, used in security investigations.
“So, I am addressing the institutions responsible for moving into action.
“I am expecting that the authority should track their phones and check their call logs for one year, so that we can know the kind of persons they are and what they into,” Obi pleaded.
The rights activist also called on the media to interrogate the matter, and not allow it to be covered.
However, he commended the State Directorate of the DSS for being exceptional in the discharge of their duties but called on the State Police Command not to allow its reputation to be tainted by laxity.
He said; “I am not happy with the state Police Command. What we see is extortion of innocent citizens.
“So, I call on the leadership of the State Police Command to sit up, because they are losing their reputation before the public.
“I insist that Anambra State should not be a dumping ground for police officers who are nearing retirement, to make money before they bow out of service.”
