Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Nearly five years after five engineers vanished while supervising an African Development Bank (AfDB)-funded road project in Ebonyi State, their families have broken their silence with devastating new allegations: a botched investigation, a dismissed detective, skeletal remains that the police refused to DNA test, and an unnamed female corpse presented as one of the men. In a joint statement on Tuesday, the wives of the five missing NELAN Consulting engineers rejected the official narrative put forward by the current Minister of Works, David Umahi – who was the state governor at the time of the disappearance – that the men were victims of a communal crisis. They accused authorities of a "coordinated cover-up" and demanded a fresh, independent probe into what they now call a "whitewash, mischief, and conspiracy."
The engineers—Nelson Onyemeh, Ernest Edeani, Ikechukwu Ejiofor, Samuel Aneke, and Stanley Nwazulum—went missing on November 3, 2021, while on official duty as consultants for the Abakaliki Ring Road project. According to the families, the men had travelled to Ebonyi for a meeting arranged by the state government. The wives—Mrs. Patricia Onyemeh, Mrs. Lovette Edeani, Mrs. Ifeoma Ejiofor, Mrs. Esther Aneke, and Mrs. Nwazulum—have consistently disputed claims that their husbands were caught in a crossfire of a conflict between the Effium and Ezza-Effium communities. "The characterisation of the disappearance... as a general consequence of communal crisis is completely outrageous, misconceived, misrepresented, and flawed," their statement read. "Credible accounts indicate that our husbands were last seen in connection with official engagements tied to the Ebonyi Ring Road project."
The most chilling allegations, however, surround the handling of evidence by security agencies. The families accused the police of presenting them with skeletal remains that could not possibly be their loved ones. "The police presented them to the family as remains of the victims, but refused to do a DNA test," the wives said. "The test further showed that one of the five skeletal remains belonged to a female, whereas the five missing engineers are all men." This glaring inconsistency has raised fundamental questions about whether the real perpetrators are still at large. "Without a doubt, the conspiracy in hurriedly filing the purported charge… was to tactically close the investigation… and shield the real culprits," they added, referencing the prosecution of six individuals. "Where are the bodies of our husbands? You arrested their killers."
The families also questioned the removal of a key investigator, Victor Chijioke Onyesom, from the Department of State Services (DSS) at a critical stage of the probe. "Who influenced the conspiracy to terminate the investigation at the DSS?" they asked. The wives, in their petition to President Bola Tinubu, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, alleged that a mysterious individual warned them to stop pushing for a reinvestigation. The Director General of the DSS recently presented the findings of an investigation into the allegations of the removal of an investigative officer handling the case to the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) for further action. According to a statement by DSS Spokesperson Peter Afunanya, the NSA's office is being briefed for "further action," but the families are running out of patience.
Minister David Umahi, who was the governor at the time, has repeatedly denied any negligence. In a statement issued through his media aide, Francis Nwaze, Umahi claimed that the engineers were "not specifically targeted" but were victims of a "wider communal conflict" that claimed many lives. He insisted that he "swiftly mobilised security agencies," personally visited the site, and that the suspects arrested "confessed to committing the crime and have remained in custody" with the case still in court. However, the families have refuted these claims, insisting there was no such communal crisis at the time of the abduction. They also questioned how Umahi publicly announced the engineers had been killed and buried while security agencies were still conducting investigations, a move they described as a preemptive cover-up.
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called on the Attorney General of the Federation to take over the case, citing the complexity of the cross-state jurisdiction and the fragility of evidence. Legal experts suggest that the refusal to conduct DNA tests on the exhumed remains is a fatal blow to the prosecution's case, and that the alleged termination of the DSS detective's work points to a "deliberate concealment of the truth." For the families, the pain is not just the loss of life, but the betrayal by the system. "We have endured years of uncertainty and pain without clear information," their petition read. "We will have no option but to embark on another protest if the investigation is not reopened. The blood of our dear husbands will never go in vain."
The case has drawn the attention of the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety), which has accused security agencies of operating a "shadow system" to protect the powerful. As the 2027 elections approach, this haunting case of five missing men—reduced to a bureaucratic footnote for nearly half a decade—stands as a grim monument to the failures of justice in Nigeria. The wives have rejected the "communial crisis" narrative as a convenient lie. They want the truth. They want the bodies. And they are refusing to be silenced.
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