Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Gabriel Osa
The disappearance of 47-year-old Chidiebere Luke Echefu has become one of the most troubling unresolved cases linked to alleged security operations in the South-East. A native of Umugwano Umuchekekwe in Onuimo Local Government Area of Imo State, Chidiebere was taken from his home in Owerri in the early hours of 7 November 2021, and since that moment, no trace of him has ever been officially acknowledged.
According to the testimony his wife shared with Amnesty International, the incident unfolded around 3:00 a.m. when the family was asleep. Their home was violently breached by about six armed men dressed in security uniforms who forced the door open and stormed inside. She described the men as being fully armed and acting with the precision of trained personnel. The first words they directed at her husband demanded to know where his phone was, a moment she remembered vividly because of the fear it triggered in their children. The children began crying hysterically as the unknown men moved swiftly through the house. She left the room momentarily to calm them, and by the time she returned, the men had seized Chidiebere’s phone and placed him in handcuffs. Throughout the encounter, none of them identified themselves or explained the reason for the raid. They left with him in complete silence, offering no information on where he was being taken.
The hours that followed marked the beginning of the family’s long and painful ordeal. They went from one police station to another across Owerri, hoping that he might have been taken into custody, but every station denied having him. In desperation, they visited the Department of State Services (DSS) office in the city, but the officials there also denied detaining him. Days turned into weeks, and the family continued searching for clues. Then, on 2 January 2022, a lawyer contacted his wife, telling her he had seen Chidiebere inside the DSS headquarters in Abuja. The news brought a mix of hope and anxiety, prompting the family to make the long journey to the capital. However, when they arrived at the DSS national office, they were informed once again that no such person was held in their custody. The conflicting accounts deepened their suffering, creating a torturous limbo where hope and despair exist side by side.
At the time of the abduction, Chidiebere’s wife was four months pregnant. Today, the baby she was carrying is more than a year old—a child who has never seen or been held by their father. The emotional and economic burden of raising five children alone, while carrying the pain of unanswered questions, has weighed heavily on her. She described how each day brings new challenges as the older children ask where their father is and when he will return, questions she has no truthful way to answer.
Human rights observers say the circumstances surrounding Chidiebere’s disappearance mirror a disturbing pattern documented in several South-East states, where individuals accused of having links to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) are reportedly taken away by armed personnel and kept in unacknowledged detention facilities. In many cases, families are left wandering from one security office to another, receiving consistent denials while their loved ones remain unaccounted for. Such practices fall under what is internationally defined as enforced disappearance, a severe human rights violation that removes individuals from the protection of the law and exposes them to the risk of torture, inhumane treatment, or death in custody. For families, enforced disappearance is a form of psychological torture that prevents closure, prolongs suffering, and destroys social and economic stability.
The silence surrounding Chidiebere’s case continues to raise questions about accountability, transparency, and adherence to due process within the country’s security operations. Four years later, neither the Nigerian Police nor the DSS has provided clarity on what happened to him, and no investigation has been publicly announced to trace his arresting officers or determine his condition. His family remains trapped in uncertainty, unable to grieve, unable to hope fully, and unable to move on.
Advocates insist that revealing Chidiebere’s whereabouts is not only a moral obligation but also a legal one. They argue that every day of silence from authorities compounds the violation of his rights and deepens the trauma of his loved ones. As calls for justice grow louder, the demand remains simple: the truth about what happened to Chidiebere must be revealed.
A petition has been launched to compel the Nigerian authorities to account for him and end the cycle of secret detentions in the South-East. Supporters of the campaign believe that without sustained pressure, cases like his risk fading into obscurity, leaving families to suffer in silence.
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