TRAVAILS OF ABIA JOURNALIST: I was almost lynched on suspicion of being Biafran apologist

BY OGAH OCHECHE

For Obinwanne Christian Onyeje, a native of Umunneochi Local Government Area of Abia State, June 23,2023 broke like every other day.

As a Christian, he must have said his prayers and asked God for guidance and protection.

But unknown to him, the sword of Damocles was hovering over his head.

Few weeks earlier, he had fled his community in Abia State where he was almost lynched by some unknown youths in his community on the suspicion of being a Biafran apologist.

Being an Igbo man and a journalist and an Abia State indigene, the assailants believed he is a Biafran apologist whereas he is politically neutral as his religious (Jehovah’s Witness) beliefs demands he should. He has never written any article to show support or solidarity to the Biafran movement.

Meanwhile, it is on record that his local government was one of the hardest hit during the three years of pogrom by the Nigerian soldiers on the people of eastern Nigeria. Many people in his community had lost their lives during the war of attrition that they fought. So, naturally it would be understandable if the community youths are against Biafran movement and are willing to take out anybody or anything that will bring back memories and repetition of history.

The attack on Mr. Obinwanne Christian Onyeje led him to flee to Lagos thinking he had actually escaped from his assailants. He had run to Lagos thinking that he had escaped from his assailants. Little did he known that he is like a golden fish that has no hiding place.

Speaking in an interview after he recovered from the attack, he had said that in the morning of June 23, 2023, he was inside a taxi heading to the bank when a group of young men, numbering about seven flagged down the taxi, dragged him out and asked him if he thought that he could run away from them.

According to him, the youths had asked him if it is because he did not lose members of his family during the Biafran Nigerian civil war that he was supporting Biafra.

He said that before he could deny the allegations, they began to beat him with rods and sticks and telling him that he is an enemy of his people.

According to him, it was then that he realized that they must have been trailing him all the way from Abia State to Lagos.

He said that one of the youths used a metal and hit him on his forehead and he felt something warm above his left eye.

His words,“I did not know that it was my blood, I have sustained a deep cut on my forehead, right above my left eye. Immediately I started screaming and a crowd gathered and in the ensuing pandemonium, the driver of the taxi who was still waiting, shouted at me to jump back into the vehicle so he could take me to the nearest clinic because I was losing blood fast. I was beginning to feel weak while answering questions from the driver about who to contact from my family.”

He said that he must have passed out and when he woke up, he found himself on a hospital bed, with bandage on his forehead and his sister crying beside him.

He said that it was later that he learned from a hand written threatening letter that was sent to his address by the attackers in which they called him a Biafran apologist and a member of the Indigenous People of Biafra known as IPOB.

 He said that he did not understand how they arrived at the conclusion, adding that in the letter, he was accused of trying to stir up tension and hatred because he is a subtle Biafran agitator/apologist who is being used to promote propaganda online because he was working for a media organization called Regina Entertainment Production.

His words, “My name is Obinwanne Christian Onyeje, I am a native of Umunneochi, Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria. I am a journalist by training and worked for a media organization called Regina Entertainment Production. I am a law-abiding citizen of Nigeria and one who strongly believes in oneness of the entity called Nigeria.”

Obinwanne said that as a journalist and a citizen of Nigeria, he has always believed in “united we stand and divided we fall’, he is against the more profound sentiment of separation from Nigeria being championed by a lot of the youths of south east Nigeria who are loyal to their leader Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which has been declared a terrorist organization by the federal government of Nigeria.

According to him, he has been critical of the militant and violent method adopted by IPOB/ESN in their agitation for self- determination, more especially the compulsory Monday Sit-at –home, which the enforcement in his view has caused the death of thousands of Igbos and also caused several socio-economic disruptions with micro- businesses losing over 4.6 trillion naira annually.

According to him, he is confused at to why he should be tagged a ‘Biafran apologist and agitator’ when he had never supported or written any article either in the magazine or his Facebook post to show solidarity or support in any form whatsoever.

He also said that some of the activities of IPOB like compulsory sit at home does not sit well with his conscience.

According to him, the main reason why he was not part of those advocating for separation is because the things that hold Nigeria together as a nation is more than the things that divide it.

He said that Nigeria has every potential to be great, adding that all that is required is patience and hard work on the part of it’s citizens.

However, he said that the youths in his area have greatly misunderstood and misrepresented him and that is why they are keen on their efforts to kill him.

He said that he could recollect that the people that attacked him were telling him that he could only run but not hide from them. In their words, “even if you like run to Kano or Maiduguri or any hole in this country, we will find you and deal mercilessly with you”.

They asked me why should an educated person like me and from Abia state be supporting separatist organization.

My sister later told me that “when the driver who took me to the hospital called her, he mentioned that the hoodlums intended to kill me and I lost so much blood within seconds that they felt I won’t make it to the hospital”. This simply means that their intention is to kill me.

 My life is now in danger and my family are living in fear because of these people.

“During my police report of the June 23, 2023 attack, I explained to the authorities that I have never been a Biafran agitator or apologist in word or action, online or offline, I am not even a member of IPOB or any political party, I do not participate in any form of politics and I do not write political articles either in our magazine where I was part of the editorial crew or online.

These assailants linked my January 15th 2021 Facebook post where I published an article about Oloibiri, the first community where oil was discovered in commercial quantity in Nigeria and how successive Nigerian governments have paid lip service in not only cleaning up the degraded community but also improving their living conditions thereby leaving them as impoverished as ever. I drew comparisons with cities like California, Texas, Ontario, Alberta, etc in terms of the clean environment and quality of life of the residents of oil rich cities. I do not know how that article relates to Biafra or the Biafran movement that they have to make reference to it.

After the Lagos attack, when I visited my family in Enugu, the hoodlums also struck again and that time, they came looking for me in my apartment but met my absence. They angrily broke in, ransacked my apartment and destroyed my properties. They left but before they did, they warned that the next time, I won’t be fortunate. Even though the police have not made an arrest on my first report or even conducted an investigation, I still reported the second incident to them.

I was really traumatized at the trajectory of my life. I did not understand why I was experiencing such attacks from unknown people. Although, youths from my local government are often rounded up and arrested even by the authorities and accused as being Biafran secessionists who are causing disturbances and violence in the country. But I am not part of any such group and I do not know when it became a crime to come from the same place with someone who is agitating for a cause.

The following year, 2024, my family suggested I should leave the country for some time until tensions die down and that is how I arrived Canada in March 2024. I really did not intend to file for asylum then because I believe the threat would gradually disappear with time. After staying for one year and 10 months in Canada, I decided to return home with the expectation that I am no longer under any form of persecution or threat.

On the 10th of February, 2026, I left Canada back to Nigeria and arrived on the 12th of February, 2026 believing everything that happened to me in the last 3 years must have fizzled out. 11 days after my arrival, on the 23rd February, 2026, I was driving in company of my two kid brothers and a friend who works with a security organization to a store, when out of nowhere, a car overtook us wrongly and stopped abruptly in front of us that I almost hit the car. While I was still wondering what was going on, two men stepped out of the car and started approaching our vehicle. Immediately my friend’s security instincts took over and he pushed me to the back seat of the car while he took over the steering wheel and pushed the car to reverse and started backing away from the car that overtook us and the men who were approaching us. My friend sharply made a dangerous U-turn as the men ran back to their car to chase after us. My friend managed to shake off those guys after 20 minutes of driving around town and later drove me home. But he advised I leave the house and check into a hotel both as a precautionary measure to protect myself and not endanger my family too. On the 24th of February, while my family was away on their various activities, the same criminals attacked my home and they met only my aged (over 80 years old) aunt who was in our home receiving care. She was harassed and manhandled and unfortunately, two days later, she died as a result of shock. I was devastated that my aunt lost her life because of my sake and the trauma of the 2023 incident resurfaced.

I decided not to make any police report because of the corruption in the Nigerian Police Force which might expose my location and further endanger my life. Besides, back in 2023 when I made police report on the brutal attack that left me with a sutured face, the police never made an arrest or even conducted any investigation because I am a nobody, not a politician or an elite.

After more than two weeks of living in fear in three different hotels, living like a fugitive in my own country, my mom was worried sick about my safety and the rising insecurity with persons of interest being targeted, she suggested I should go back to Canada for my own safety and that prompted me to return to Canada and file for asylum.