Police Arraign Suspected Ritualist, Two Others In Enugu

The police on Wednesday arraigned one Obi Levi Obieze before His Worship, Osondu Chukwuani of Magistrate Court 1, Enugu North, on kidnapping and murder charges.

The Obieze, alias “E dey play e dey show”, alongside two other co-defendants, Sabastine Emeka Offor, and Odinwamkpa Ejike, were arraigned on a seven-count charge bordering on conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder in Umumba Ndiagu and environs in Ezeagu LGA of Enugu State.

Obieze was arrested at the Badagry-Seme border while allegedly attempting to flee the country, weeks after the discovery of human remains linked to a string of abductions and killings in the area.

His arrest was said to have followed a joint operation by the police, Nigeria Immigration Service, and other security agencies.

In the charge marked MEN/473c/2025 and signed by the Head of Legal, Enugu State Police Command, Superintendent of Police Justice Attah, the defendants were alleged to have, between April and May May, conspired with others now at large to kidnap and murder several persons, including minors, along Umuojo Road in Ishiagu Village, Umumba Ndiagu.

According to the charge, the defendants allegedly abducted 13-year-old Ukamaka (f), 15-year-old Chimaobi Ezi (m), and 31-year-old Joy Miracle Udokamma (f), using personal violence, contrary to Section 315(2) of the Criminal Code (Amendment) Law of Enugu State, No. 14 of 2010.

They were also accused of conspiring to murder, and of unlawfully killing both Ezi and Udokamma, offences said to be punishable under Sections 494 and 274(1) of the Criminal Code, Cap 30, Vol. II, Revised Laws of Enugu State 2004.

The three defendants pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Following their plea, Magistrate Chukwuani held that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the charges and ordered the case file to be transmitted to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice and possible arraignment before a court of competent jurisdiction.

He adjourned the matter to August 20 and ordered that the defendants be remanded in prison custody.

Obieze’s arraignment followed weeks of investigation and inter-agency collaboration which led to his arrest by operatives of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) at the Gbaji checkpoint along the Badagry-Seme border on May 29.

He was apprehended while allegedly attempting to escape Nigeria on a motorcycle.

Following his arrest, the NIS, Lagos Command, confirmed that Obieze, also known as Levi Obu Onyeka, was handed over to the police for further investigation.

Authorities said Obieze’s identity was confirmed through a National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) slip found in his possession, and he reportedly confessed to the crimes during preliminary interrogation.

Obieze, believed to be the head of a ritual cult, allegedly abducted his victims under the guise of needing help or spiritual intervention.

In one incident, 13-year-old Ukamaka was said to have been kidnapped while walking with her father to the farm.

Witnesses said two men on a motorcycle pretended to be having mechanical trouble, luring the father into handing over his cutlass, only to seize the girl and flee with her.

The police, in collaboration with vigilante groups, launched a manhunt and traced the girl’s screams to Obieze’s compound. When they stormed the premises, he allegedly tried to resist but was overpowered.

The teenage girl was rescued alive, while further searches led to the recovery of human remains in soakaways and other parts of the shrine.

Obieze, known in the community for his flamboyant lifestyle and public spraying of money at events, was said to have fled with his four wives shortly before his eventual arrest.

Police Arraign Suspected Ritualist, Two Others In Enugu is first published on The Whistler Newspaper