Walter Emeribe, husband of Mrs Chinwe of the Federal Ministry of Defence, has revealed that he has had no contact with his wife, nearly two months after a kidnap ordeal that shook the Kabba axis in Kogi State, even as reports confirmed the rescue of some of her colleagues.
Emeribe spoke during an interview on Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, recounting the final moments before she boarded a bus to Abuja.
The distraught husband said he personally saw her off at the park in Festac, Lagos, on November 9, 2025.
According to him, he last heard from Chinwe when the 14-seater commuter bus reached Akure, Ondo State, en route to Abuja.
Emeribe stated, “Around 4 p.m., I called again. I could not hear anything from her. Each time I called, it would ring, but no response. So I continued up to midnight. From midnight again, I continued calling at intervals up to 5 a.m. I did not sleep.
“So getting to 6 a.m. on Monday, so I called. I didn’t hear anything, so I became, somehow, afraid. I became jittery.”
He also said he became jittery when he could not reach her for several hours and confirmed his fear when the bus company told him that she and other occupants of the bus were abducted in Kabba.
Emeribe said, “So, getting to Kabba on the Lokoja Highway, as we heard in the news, they were abducted. And since then, we have not heard anything from my wife. I’ve not heard her voice. I have not seen her, and nobody called me.”
Asked how he knew that some of the victims had been released, Emeribe said, “I heard it on the news about two television stations mentioned that they have been released, that the six directors of the Ministry of Defence who were on their way to Abuja for a promotion exam but were abducted, have been released, and reunited with their families.
“So when I had this, I was not happy. I felt bad. I said, ‘Why would this news come from the association of senior civil servants of the Ministry of Defence.
“And this statement was made by their president, by name, Mr Mohammed Shehu. So I was not happy with that. I said, ‘If they have released the six women, where is my wife, and where is the other woman, Mrs Juliana Onwuzurike?
“The initial news I had was that six of them have been released, and that was what prompted my going all around to ask them: if they have released the six, where is my wife and the other family too?
“So, at the end, we are told that four people were released, and these four people are nowhere to be seen to tell us exactly what happened, why the two women, our wives, were not part of those who were released.”
Emeribe, therefore, appealed to the ministry to give him information about his wife’s whereabouts.
“What I am actually requesting now is that the Ministry of Defence should tell me where my wife is because she was sent on an official assignment, and up to now, they have not come out to tell me where my wife is after the abduction, and these four have been released.
“So I want them to tell me where my wife is. Whether she’s dead or alive, they should come out and tell me. Otherwise, I don’t know what else to do,” he said.
“So if it requires them to go to Kogi State to search for my wife, whether she is dead, as I said, or alive, they should do that. I’ve not seen them taking any proactive measures.
“So all I want from them is to let them come out and see a way of bringing out my wife wherever she is, together with Mrs. Juliana Onwuzurike, the two of them who are nowhere to be seen. And at the same time, they should reach out to this transport company that took these women to Abuja,” he added.
Mrs Chinwe was kidnapped along with five other staff members of the Federal Ministry of Defence in Kabba, Kogi State, on their way to Abuja for a promotional exam to the directorate cadre.
The abductors reportedly demanded a ransom of ₦150 million.
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