Relatives of vanished Ebonyi engineers call for new investigation

The wives of five engineers linked to NELAN Consulting have strongly denounced comments made by Minister of Works, David Umahi, claiming he is attempting to conceal the truth surrounding the disappearance and presumed killing of their husbands in 2021.

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In a scathing rebuttal, the wives, namely Mrs Patricia Onyemeh, Mrs Lovette Edeani, Mrs Ifeoma Ejiofor, Mrs Esther Aneke, and Mrs Nwazulum, asserted that Umahi's response failed to address the numerous factual and moral concerns that have persisted for nearly five years.

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The statement was prompted by Umahi's response on March 16, 2026, in which he allegedly attributed the engineers' disappearance to communal unrest, a claim disputed by the families.

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The families insisted that characterizing the disappearance of the five engineers as a consequence of communal crisis is entirely outrageous and flawed, as the engineers were supervising an African Development Bank-backed ring road project in Ebonyi State when they went missing on November 3, 2021, during Umahi's tenure as governor.

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According to the families, their husbands had travelled for an official meeting arranged by the state government and were last seen in connection with the project, with credible accounts indicating they were engaged in official activities linked to the Ebonyi Ring Road project.

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The wives raised legitimate questions about attempts to attribute the incident to communal violence, citing irregularities in the handling of the case by security agencies, particularly the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police Force.

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The families questioned the sudden dismissal of a DSS investigator, Victor Chijioke Onyesom, who was tracking communications linked to the case, asking who influenced the conspiracy to terminate the investigation at DSS.

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The wives also faulted the police for presenting skeletal remains without conducting DNA verification, stating that the police presented the remains to the family as those of the victims but refused to conduct a DNA test.

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The test revealed that one of the five skeletal remains belonged to a female, whereas the five missing engineers are all men, further casting doubt on the police's handling of the case.

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The authorities were accused of rushing to file charges against six suspects without concluding investigations or producing bodies, with the wives claiming that the conspiracy was aimed at closing the investigation and shielding the real culprits.

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The families demanded to know the whereabouts of their husbands' bodies, stating that the authorities had arrested the killers but failed to produce the bodies.

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The wives alleged that they faced intimidation after petitioning top government officials, including President Bola Tinubu, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, with an undisclosed person threatening them not to push further for the reinvestigation of the case.

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Rejecting Umahi's position outright, the wives described the case as a whitewash, cover-up, mischief, conspiracy, and plot to use the court to foreclose investigation, citing interference in the investigative process and the suppression of critical evidence.

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The families called on the President, National Assembly leadership, and civil society groups to compel security agencies to reopen the case, warning that they would embark on another protest if the investigation is not reopened.

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The wives vowed that the blood of their dear husbands will never go in vain, emphasizing their determination to seek justice for their loved ones.