By Izunna Okafor, Awka
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Anambra State Waste Management Authority (ASWAMA), Engr. Mike Ozoemena, has reacted to the news making the rounds that former President of the Onitsha Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ONICCIMA), Hon. Okey Akaneme, has died as a result injuries sustained during a violent revenue enforcement operation by ASWAMA agents.
The reaction follows the reports that started trending over the weekend emphasizing that Mr. Akaneme died because of the alleged assault by the ASWAMA agents when they were trying to collect sanitation levy from him.
Akaneme was reportedly attacked on October 11, 2024, at his residence on Obi Lane, America Quarters, Onitsha, after ASWAMA officials, accompanied by two policemen from Onitsha Central Police Station, allegedly stormed his home over unpaid sanitation fees.
Witnesses said Akaneme was manhandled, leaving him with severe spinal injuries.
A close associate, Okechukwu Ani, narrating the ordeal said, “The team entered Akaneme’s home early that morning, demanding his arrest. Akaneme, still in his sleepwear, asked for time to get ready, but the team allegedly forced their way in.
“As neighbours were prevailing on the ASWAMA team to leave Akaneme alone, they realized that they had inflicted on him an almost fatal injury, it was at that point that the team members forcefully dropped Akaneme’s body to the ground of his apartment, near the door, while he was unable to lift a finger or move his legs with his neck broken amidst other injuries,” he said.
Akaneme was rushed to Holy Rosary Specialist Hospital, Onitsha, and later transferred to Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, where doctors confirmed his spinal cord was 65% damaged.
He was later moved to the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, for advanced care, with the Anambra State Government undertaking to foot his hospital bills after receiving reports from the committee set up to investigate the incident.
Unfortunately, however, Akaneme died over the weekend, following the severity of the injuries sustained the incident; hence the news making the rounds.
When contacted on Saturday by this reporter, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Anambra State Waste Management Authority (ASWAMA), Engr. Ozoemena, simply dismissed the reports as old news. He also declined to comment further on the incident.
Meanwhile, Mr. Akaneme’s death has continued to generate reactions from different corners, especially from groups and among netizens.
However, as at the time of filing this report, the state government is yet to release any official statement in reaction to the victim’s death.
Until his painful death, Mr. Theophilus Okechukwu Akaneme, aside being a former Chairman of the Onitsha Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ONICCIMA) — the second biggest and most active Chamber of Commerce in Nigeria after the Lagos Chamber — was newspaper publisher and printer.
He was a co-founder of The Bridge, a regional newspaper which he published in Onitsha, South-East’s commercial and industrial hub, with his friend and former classmate. Together with his classmate, he also owned a printing press, which has been in operation since their graduation and completion of their National Youth Service (NYSC) in 1987.
A hard-working and serious-minded fellow, Akaneme was married to a university professor with whom he had grown-up children.
