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Onitsha shooting: Pain and sorrow, empathy and compassion, as Nwosu visits victims
By Sunny Igboanugo
She writhed and riggled as she struggled to change her position. The pain was obvious in that effort. She tried to speak, but no words came out. She could only gesticulate, pointing to her mouth, which appeared to have been worked on. A kind of surgery must have been performed probably by some maxillo-facial surgeons from evidence.
Then, her minders rushed to her attention in attempt to interpret her action. They must done this a thousand times and more in the tons of similar cases they must have handled given their actions. In this case, they must have done so many other times. “She cannot speak for now,” the lead consultant in charge, intervened. His own pains were equally obvious, even with the mesh of professionalism covering his entire conduct.
This was the scene at the Trauma Centre of the Nnewi Teaching Hospital, one of the centres of excellence for medical cases in the South East. Date was Thursday, September 11, 2025. Helen Anoyochukwu Nwoye, was one of the victims of the mid-day shooting at the Emeka Offo Plaza, a bustling market mostly for telecommunication components and assessories, located at Bright Street, inside the popular Onitsha Main Market.
Two days earlier, on Tuesday September 9, men of the Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra, otherwise known as Ocha Brigade, had stormed the market where they unleashed mayhem, leaving in their gory escapades sorrow, tears and blood. At the end of the deadly operation, five people were reportedly mowed down in a hail of bullets. The eerie incident was said to have resulted from an altercations between the operatives and the traders over the display of their wares.
Nwoye, was among the “lucky” victims of the shooting, given that she still has her life with her, though her health was obviously badly affected. There was no way of ascertaing from her the details of her own account given the state of her condition except for what is already in the public domain, but it was clear that she might never be the same again from the impact of that deadly episode.
Beside her also lay Chionye Okwukwechi, a middle-aged man, another of the victims. Like Nwoye, he was also clearly in pain. Again, there was also no way of determining his own details, particularly what he was doing at the point when calamity struck and how he was able to cheat death, as he struggled to sleep, apparently to mitigate his own ordeal.
For John Chuma Nwosu, governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), who came calling, it was a day to be with the victims, physically, psychologically, spiritually and emotionally, sharing their pains and sorrow. Beyond the financial succour he advanced to the victims and other patients at the hospital, he made a solemn vow – this will never happen in a state under my care!
Consoling the families of the victims, he expressed confidence that their wards would recover fully to the glory of God, adding that as a staunch Catholic, he had absolute trust that with the intercession of Mother Mary they would get the healing which they had come to seek in the hospital.
“I can assure you that nothing will happen to them. You have already put your confidence in God. All of us that are here, we’re going to put you in our prayers. We say, ndo nu! Take heart, for all will be well. My name is John Chuma Nwosu. The meaning of Chuma is God Knows Everything. God knows we’re going to be here today,” Nwosu, who also doled out financial largesse to another victim – a spinal cord injury patient after praying for his recovery.
From every evidence, it was clear that Nwosu was so hit with the impact of what he saw in the hospital that it formed the core of his message throughout the day’s activities, which took him to the Abba Market in Dunukofia Local Government Area of the state and during his visit to Igwe Robert Eze (Okofia v1) of Ukpo in the same local government, where he strengthened his vow that his government would do things differently.
At the palace of the Anambra foremost monarch, where he apologised for coming late, he had explained the reason for doing so as occasioned by his decision to visit the hospital first to commiserate with the victims of the shooting, which he said was a clear evidence of the bad governance in the state.
“I’m a man known for keeping time and never be late to scheduled occasions. But I had to rush to see our people, who were shot at Bright Street, Onitsha two days ago. Please accept my apologies. I’ve heard your admonitions in your prayers, where you told us to emulate the records of Nnamdi Azikiwe and M.I. Okpara. I hereby promise that we’re not only going to do that, we’ll even attempt to do more.
“This is what are contained in our seven-point agenda captured as SHEEEMS – where S stands for Security, H stands for Health, first E stands for Education, second E stands for Economy, and third E stands for Environments, while M stands for Markets and S stands for Social Welfare. Igwe regarding our social welfare – you know that science tells us that once a man gets to 50 years, he should go and check himself for such conditions like prostrate problems or anything. But you’ll be surprised that in the entire Anambra, there is nowhere you have a cancer diognostic centre. None.
“That of UNTH has packed up. So, what happens is that people now resort to going to Lagos for diognosis. Either you go to the Duchess Hospital in Ikeja or Luth. But in Anambra State, in fact, the entire Eastern Region, there is no single cancer diagnostic centre.
“In that of Security, our governor has stayed for three years with Anambra suffering the worst form of insecurity for that period. In January this year, he went and brought people who cover their faces that nobody could identify or know where they came from. They cover their faces because they’re not from here. Igwe, I know you’re widely-travelled. I know there’s nowhere else in Nigeria that you see men carrying gun and covering their faces in the name of security.
“A visiting white man that sees that will be traumatised and will never come back. Even in Enugu State, you don’t have such a thing. But our strategy will be different. we’re going to use the conventional security, that is the police. We’re going to provide them with further enhanced training, particularly on how to engage with civilian community. we’re going to upgrade their salaries and allowances, pay them well in addition from what they get from the Federal Government.
“We’ll provide them with life-insurance benefits, so that they will throw everything in the job, knowing that if anything happens to them, their families would be provided for. These are the incentives they will need to work optimally. We will equip them with optimally also and provide them with functional equipment including brand new vehicles as opposed to the Tokumbo, which those the state government is providing now.
“Where in this world does a government buy used vehicles. How do you determine the cost of such vehicles. Government buys new vehicles not only for optimal functionality, but also accountability. You have to evaluate the value of those vehicles. When Peter Obi was in office, he was the one that gave Innocent Chukwuma, our son and brother the money to expand the INNOSON Motors factory by giving him one single order of N3billion and asking him to supply to security operatives, hospitals.
“That’s how the companies you hear their names in Asia and other parts of the world took off. An individual doesn’t have the money to invest in such large capital-intensive concerns. You must be supported by your government. Ogun State has today opened an international cargo airport. Our brothers in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria and the world must be supported with incentives. They must be supported with such government interventions as tax incentives – five or 10 years tax-free incentives for their businesses.
“Today, since our governor came in, our people have virtually left the state – scattered all over the country. Many of those who used to do business in Onitsha have all relocated to Asaba. All these could be traced to poor or absence of insecurity that has ravaged the state. But we’re going to do things differently when we come in.
“As I told you, my name in John Chukwuma Nwosu from Odida Nnewi. I’m an ex-seminarian. I was a student of All Hallows Seminary, Onitsha. I left seminary school in 1981 after being Assistant Secretary to Cardinal Francis Arinze when he was the Archbishop of Onitsha and later Secretary to the Catholic Women Organisation. From there I went to read Computer Science at IMT and later Economics at University of Lagos.
“I own the company known as Jetlinks Limited, an ICT company of over 31 years, with offices in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Enugu, Nnewi, Ghana and Liberia. With my experience in ICT, we’ll use Artificial Intelligence-powered CCTV cameras, installed at strategic centres including our borders, back it with a strong control centre at the state capital.
“We’ll have them in the exit location around Ihiala, Onitsha Head Bridge, down to Amansea, Uga and scattered around other major cities around Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi. Thereafter, we shall advice our people to register and get their National Identity Number – NIN – I was managing the NIN database of NIMC (National Identity Management Commission) until recently. Once that is done, if you commit any crime, once the camera captures your face your identity is known immediately.
“Igwe, what I’m saying is not political talks. It is already happening in Enugu State. Fashola achieved that in Lagos. Whoever lives in Lagos will tell you that you no longer hear shootings anyhow because people are being watched and the Operation Rapid Response is there. That is why Lagos is calm. But we’re going to even bring a stronger, more efficient and more effective model that is so airtight that nothing will escape.
“That is the way our economy must return. We must revitalise Anambra economy. If go to Asaba at the weekend, particularly Sunday night, what you see is like a carnival and like Dubai, because our governor, left security has deteriorated so much.” Igwe, this is our story. This is our promise. This is our mandate for the people.”
No doubt, to many ears, especially people from Anambra, Nwosu’s message is now like preaching to the converted. Last Sunday in Lagos, where he met with the creme of Anambra indigenes resident in the state, the question of insecurity took the centre of discussion.
Coincedentally, in another hall at the Colonades Hotel, Alfred Rewane Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, venue of the parley, House of Integrity Social Club, whose membership traverses not only was having their own gathering. It was the yearly New Yam Festival, otherwise known as Iri Ji. The implication of such a traditional ceremony being marked in Lagos, instead of the South East, adumbrated the sad picture of the Igbo story today.
In August 2024, the nation was seized with the sad news of how a group of gunmen abducted Patrick Agha Mba, Commissioner for Youth Development in Anambra State after killing his wife Chizoba. The Mbas were on their way to Abuja, the nation’s capital when they were attacked by the gunmen. Their mission was to attend the wedding of Adaora, daughter of Charles Chukwuma Soludo, Governor of Anambra State.
The implications of that development, both in the optics and the relevance are as obvious as they are compelling. If the first family of a state by virtue of the the governor could not be comfortable enough to hold the marriage rites of their daughter – the first daughter of the state in Anambra due to insecurity, who else would?
Indeed, many had in past cried out at what considered a taboo when cultural activities, such as burials, marriages, chieftaincy rites, iri ji, amongst others were shifted to safer grounds of Lagos, Abuja and other towns. The practice was ended when the governor of Peter Obi, unleashed its arsenal against the hoodlums behind the crime and chased them out of town for the state to be declared as the safest in the country. Today the phenomenon has returned with greater intensity, with the selfsame Soludo, showing no evidence of possessing the clue to end the orgy.
Instead of finding the solution, the governor and his government, have worsened the situation by his own model of unleashing his henchmen, whose modus operandi, includes turning the guns they are supposed to use in protecting the society on the same people they were charged to protect, of which the Onitsha massacre has now become a demonstrable example. Tragedy!
Igboanugo, Director, Media and Publicity, John Chuma Nwosu Governorship Campaign Council of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
By Sunny Igboanugo
I must confess harbouring genuine fear in the last few days. The signals filtering in from the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), kept me substantially restive.
But it immediately transcended to apprehension and trepidation when Henry Seriaka Dickson, National Leader, appeared on Prime Time, the public affairs programme on ARISE NEWS Television.
This is it, I told myself. Yes, I was becoming increasingly convinced that my fear that the Ofirimapepe – the Great White Shark from Bayelsa – was about to unravel. Knowing Nigerian politicians, I had not been able to wean myself of the fear that the former Governor did not have a hidden agenda.
Listening to the same ARISE NEWS panel, this time on The Morning Show, its breakfast programme, review Dickson’s outing in the earlier encounter with Charles Aniagolu, I knew I was not alone in entertaining this fear.
There, the panelists alluded to the same fears – probably picked from their individual antenna – to the effect that Dickson would betray Obi – confirming that I wasn’t just overthinking.
Now, among the different angles that had been bandied is the one suggesting that Dickson was actually not interested in Peter Obi becoming President – “because he knows he will not win” – but that he is actually using his name to build the party for the future.
In fact, they stretch the prognosis to suggest that the real interest is for the Senator to pair with Rabiu Kwankwaso, current running mate with Obi in the 2031 presidential election. In other words, it is all about 2031. For me, this wasn’t as dangerous as the one I had been pondering over since Obi’s entrance into the NDC.
Now, my own prognosis was that the entire scenario depicted APC at work. I confess this much. I had always believed that the process of Obi’s emergence and picking the NDC was too smooth for comfort. Were APC and President Bola Tinubu particularly, who had been accused of not wanting the former Governor of Anambra State on the ballot in 2027, knowing what he did to him in the 2023 edition, sleeping?
This naughty knot in my throat, too difficult to swallow, was reinforced by Dickson’s particular expressions during the encounter. First, came the fact that nobody – make it Obi – was doing him or the NDC leadership a favour by joining the party, but rather, it was the other way.
Then came the bigger one, when he began to boast that nobody was more “qualified” to run for the nation’s number one job than him – I interpreted it to be a direct attack on Obi. The question was why? Why would he be launching such needless blitzkrieg on his own party’s candidate – the same man he would be going to war with?
Then, I concluded that it was a gambit to draw Obi out to a fight – that he was deliberately baiting the 2023 Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate – daring him to say piim in form of a reply and then – voom! The bloody battle will start and then, the inevitable – Obi’s name will either disappear from the NDC list or something close to it!
Both ways, it would be bad business for the Obi project – the only hope for citizens to get out of the nightmare they find themselves under the terrible disaster, called – APC’s Tinubu. I couldn’t bear the thought.
Now, I confess I was wrong! I have just listened to Dickson’s clarification and realised that this might not be the case. On the contrary, the culprit is actually Aisha Yusufu, arguably one of Obi’s most trusted allies. The rumble in the NDC, has all the trappings of a wounded ego she’s nursing at the moment.
It is clear that she is unable to manage her bitterness for failing to obtain the ticket of the party for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Senatorial election in 2027.
It is a delicate situation, because of what such anger could wrought, as already becoming evident. What is more? It might all be a matter of the self-entitlement factor, given her profile.
I could imagine what she’s struggling with and the questions in her head right now. How could a whole Aisha, Nigeria’s tough-nail activist fail to clinch such a simple trophy given her status and what she had done for the party? Why wouldn’t she get what she wanted given “all she had done” for Peter Obi?
How would I know the angle Dickson just revealed – that he (Dickson) and Obi, sat down to practically beg the self-same Aisha to take the House of Representatives ticket of the party – for FREE! But she refused flatly. For her, it was the Senate or nothing.
Now, this is where politics is different from populism. Dickson didn’t just fall into the leadership of the NDC. So many things happened to that effect. Just like Aisha is Obi’s man-Friday, so too is Dickson supposed to have his own. Politics is all about give and take – quid pro quo – rub my back I nwekee yours!
Did Aisha expect that Dickson would not have his own interests? Did Aisha expect that Obi, after picking the presidential ticket, would also begin to scramble or contest with the Ofirimapepe for the FCT ticket, his own share of the booty?
Okay, did she expect that Dickson must subsume that interest under hers for there to be peace? Just because she is Aisha – Nigeria’s number one activist? Does she expect Dickson to go empty-handed – just because she has access to “important people?” Imagine!
Dickson claimed that he and Obi pleaded with her to take the House Representatives ticket for free, but she flatly refused. Pray! Is House of Representatives too low to start as a political fresher?
I saw her earlier video that went viral, where she was complaining before party leaders that she was denied the platform to contest the ticket. What platform was she talking about?
Isn’t it akin to Atiku Abubakar insisting on contesting the African Democratic Congress (ADC’s) ticket with Peter Obi, for which he is being called names till date.
Like Atiku, who says she wouldn’t have won the primaries for the FCT ticket? Yes, if allowed, she might have defeated Amanda Pam, the lawyer whom had reportedly been penciled down by Dickson’s choice.
But wouldn’t that mimic the nuances surrounding Atiku defeating Obi, et al in the ADC primaries? Would that be the end of the story? How would Dickson feel that his candidate was shoved out of the way in place of a newcomer?
Yes! She might argue that it is all about democracy. But even democracy must be given a human face. Much more than taking Tinubu and his wicked government out of power, a major reason many people also demanded that Atiku ceded the ticket to Obi, was for this same human face of democracy – including for the South to remain in power – moreso – South East.
Just in the same way many believed that Atiku could easily pick the ADC ticket but fail woefully in the main election, isn’t it also true that Aisha could have defeated Pam in the run for the NDC ticket, but fail at the main election – especially given what many see as her deep-rooted relevance in Abuja politics – even outside Dickson’s particular interest?
Now, I understand Dickson’s outburst clearly and it is as well that he came out to make clarifications. Now I know it is not about Obi. Now I know it is not a gambit to stoke an imaginary quarrel in the NDC just to endanger the ticket. Now I know it is not APC or the Aso Rock Villa or Bourdillon at work. Now I’m so happy!
In recent days since this imbroglio, Aisha has spoken less about the Peter Obi presidency, hitherto on her lips. I hope the apparent reticence is not her way of waying the option of joining the likes of Kenneth Okonkwo and other turncoats.
Surely, the naysayers, must be on her case by now, baiting her to take a bite. I hope she’s not pecking at it, not to talk about swallowing the line. I just hope she would take the more glorious option of dusting herself and re-engaging in what she is known for – crusading for the society.
Shakespeare once wrote that “hell hat no fury than a woman scorned.” Granted that it is human to feel angry or disappointed, but the cure cannot come from taking a dive into the sea.
Impulse or recklessness could lead to plunging into the morass of infamy. I should suggest she asked Okonkwo how it feels in there. Thank God they’re both still friends. It mightn’t only be critical, but indeed fatal – like from frying pan into fire. I won’t say more!
_ The Tiny Voice!
After allegedly being rejected as Nigeria’s ambassador to Germany, Femi Fani-Kayode, former Minister of Aviation, has been reassigned as Nigeria’s ambassador-designate to South Africa, while his place is said to have gone to Ita Enang, former Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Legislative Matters.
Reports had said as far back as March that the former Minister and vocal voice in national affairs was not granted a welcome to Berlin, the German capital, due to what was claimed as his divisive ethnocentric public commentaries, labelling his potential presence as destabilising to diplomatic relations, claims he promptly repudiated as fake news.
While no official statement has come from either the Presidency or the Federal Ministry of Information to confirm the new status of Enang, Fani-Kayode has since confirmed he is heading to Johannesburg.
Reacting to the news, which circulated widely on social media—particularly on X, claimed that Germany had declined to his appointment, Fani-Kayode, described the reports as “fake news” and accused political opponents of attempting to undermine his appointment.
“These opposition elements are so pained by my appointment that they are doing everything to discredit it. Whether they like it or not, I will serve my country,” he stated.
The former minister emphasized his commitment to serving Nigeria, dismissing the rumors as baseless attempts to scuttle his diplomatic role.
Regardless, the Minister confirmed on Thursday that he was how heading to South Africa, as his new posting, but quickly asserted that it was not out of rejection by Germany, but out of his own preference to serve in Africa rather than Europe where he had lived for a long time.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) on Tuesday, called out the Federal Government of attempting to destabilise the party following Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’s defection, alleging pressure on Joash Ojo Amupitan, INEC Chairman, to interfere in its leadership.
Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the party, who made the allegation in a statement, detailed how a March 28 letter by some Senior Advocates, purportedly representing an expelled member of the party, is being used to push INEC to invalidate party actions and alter its structure before the court rules.
Stressing that part of the grand plan to destabilise the only viable opposition party left in the country was to use the electoral commission to cause havoc, over a matter that was in court, the party promised to resist it using all constitutional means,
The full statement reads:
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has observed a coordinated attempt to pressure the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN), and destabilise the David Mark-led leadership of the party.
The decision of Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to join our party has understandably sent jitters through the ruling party. Since then, top officials within the Federal Government have renewed their onslaught against our party, in a bid to discourage other high-profile figures.
This conspiracy is centred on a legal dispute that is now being pushed beyond the courtroom. In a letter dated March 28, 2026, a team of Senior Advocates of Nigeria is asking INEC to enforce a curious and peculiar interpretation of a Court of Appeal ruling regarding what constitutes “status quo ante bellum.”
In the said letter, the writers even went ahead to threaten the INEC chairman with arrest if he does not grant their request within seven days. They want INEC to invalidate party meetings, remove recognised officials, and hand over the affairs of the party to a specific individual, even though the case itself has not been fully decided by the courts. Obviously, what the authors of this vexatious letter are attempting to do is to pressure INEC to take sides and grant them what no court in Nigeria has granted.
For the avoidance of doubt, Hon. Nafiu Bala Gombe, who is claiming to be aggrieved over the ADC leadership, was never the Chairman of the ADC. And, perhaps more significantly, Nafiu Gombe had earlier resigned his position alongside other members of the National Working Committee. He has also since been expelled from the party. Therefore, any attempt to recreate a “status quo” that upgrades his position to National Chairman of the ADC at any point in time is, at best, fictitious.
What we are witnessing is a convergence of legal pressure and political intent by a ruling party that is unsettled by the growing appeal of the ADC. But Nigerians can see what is happening.
No amount of pressure, no manufactured confusion, and no distortion of legal processes will stop what is already in motion. The ADC is growing. Nigerians are joining. A credible opposition is taking shape.
We call on INEC to remain guided by the Constitution, resist all forms of pressure, and uphold its duty as an impartial umpire.
This is bigger than the ADC. It is about whether Nigerians can freely choose a different path. And that must not be compromised.
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