What a callous attitude of the men of the underworld? It was a sad end for a young businessman recently. Maxwell Obiajulu Dim was allegedly murdered by a gang of kidnappers who still went ahead and obtained a ransom of N12m from his family. But the suspected sinners would not go unpunished. The police in Asaba, Delta State capital said they have arrested two suspects in connection with the sad incident.
Daily Sun learnt that on October 6, a gang of fully armed kidnappers operating in a white bus stormed the Obi Link Petrol Station located along Asaba-Onitsha
Expressway. There, they shot the 41-year-old businessman on his left leg and forced him into their bus after which they drove off.
They allegedly fired shots into the air as they left the scene with their captive. They later went to a bush in Achalla Ibusa where they called the victim’s wife, telling her to bring N70m for them if she wanted her husband released. After much negotiation, they settled for N12m.
At about 8.00pm on October 7, the wife went and dropped the money with a promise from the kidnappers that they were going to release her husband. But having collected the money, the kidnappers switched off their phones and stopped further communications with the businessman’s family. Now frustrated, Dim’s family then reported the matter at the B Division of the Nigeria police in Asaba.
Weeks later, Dim’s family members discovered the decomposed corpse of the businessman in the bush.
The younger brother of the deceased, Mr. Emmanuel Ifenachi Dim told our reporter that all members of the family are still grieving over the incident. He affirmed that the kidnappers initially requested for N70m, which was later pruned to N12m. He regretted that his brother was still murdered even after the kidnappers had collected the ransom.
“After my brother’s wife dropped the N12m at Achalla Ibusa, Delta State around 8.00pm, we had thought that they would release him. We never knew they would kill him,” he said. He asserted that his late brother was with the kidnappers for14 days and was bleeding seriously from the injury he sustained from the gunshots.
According to him, the kidnappers did not take Dim to any hospital for treatment, noting that they just kept him inside the bush.
“He died after serious bleeding,” he said. “Even though we gave them N12m, the kidnappers switched off their phones for almost three weeks. We didn’t hear anything from them and we started searching for my late brother. We later reported to the Police at “B” Division Police Station in Asaba,” he said. He added that it was after the police arrested two of the suspected kidnappers that Dim’s relations were told where the corpse of the businessman was dumped.
“We later found the decomposed corpse of my brother at the same spot where we dropped the money at Achalla Ibusa in Delta State,” he said. He said the corpse was later taken to the General Hospital in Asaba.
Late Dim Maxwell hailed from Osumenyi Dimala Amuhe Village in Nnewi South Local Government area of Anambra State.
Speaking on the incident, Assistant Commissioner of Police at the State CID, Asaba, Mr. Galadanchi Dasuki told Daily Sun that it was quite unfortunate that the family of the deceased didn’t report the case to the police at the appropriate time. Dasuki explained that the police initially arrested a staff of a mobile telecommunications company in Asaba before they succeeded in apprehending the two suspected kidnappers.
“The suspects were arrested through the link we got in the Nokia phone that they used. After we arrested the two suspected kidnappers, we released the staff of the communications company when the investigation was concluded,” he explained.
The police officer said it was the two suspects that now took the police to the bush where the already decomposing corpse of the late Dim Maxwell was found on October 21. He further explained that the two suspects would soon be charged for kidnapping and murder.
Emmanuel Dim said members of the family believe that the police would do their best to ensure that justice is done. “We want them to ensure justice in the brutal murder of our bread winner,” he stated. The Delta State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Yakubu Alkali said the command had a breakthrough with the successful arrest of the two suspected kidnappers. He said the case has been transferred to the Federal Anti-Robbery Squad, Abuja for further investigation.
Alkali stated that the suspects would eventually return to Delta State to face murder charges, adding, “the doctor’s autopsy report confirmed that the cause of death was excessive bleeding as a result of the gunshot on the left leg of Dim Maxwell.” When Daily Sun visited Achalla Ibusa, a member of the community, Mr. Emuka Oboda expressed surprise that such an incident happened in the community. He asserted that nobody would have thought that the kidnappers were inside the bush not to talk of keeping somebody there for 14 days.
“We were shocked when the police, with the assistance of the kidnappers, came to the bush here and fished out a dead body which was already decomposing,” he said. One of the suspects said his Nokia 1600 handset was used in the negotiation of the ransom.
How they killed Dim
By Sir ISRAEL EMESIOFOR
The ugly spectre of kidnapping in the country recently claimed the life of Bro. Obiajulu Maxwell Dim, Chairman/C.E.0 Obi-Links Group Ltd, Onitsha, Anambra State on Wednesday, October 6, 2010 when he was shot and kidnapped at his Obi-Links Petroleum Station, Asaba, Delta State. The heartless kidnappers dumped his body in a bush near Asaba, after collecting N12million ransom from the wife.
The wicked have done their worst. They have killed the flesh of Obiajulu Dim, unable to touch his amiable soul. Such a gentleman. You really had to strain your ears to hear him talk. Why anyone would choose to take the life of a harmless man is beyond common sense. Obi-Links boss’ died in the hands of kidnappers, ups the ante in the alarming rate of wastage of human resources in the country.
As I cry for Obiajulu, an irreplaceable loss in my mind, I strongly condemn the culture of kidnapping, thuggery and political violence in Nigeria. It is the product of desperation and an unconscionable resort to get rich quick.
This predilection of youngmen to take to kidnapping as a profession, is a sad commentary on the state of Nigeria’s democracy. It underscores the immaturity and the base instints that propel our political class which style of wealth flaunting and resort to jungle justice to resolve political differences has affected our youths negatively.
Obi, lives on
The man dies in him who keeps silent in the face of tyranny – those mortal words by Prof. Wole Soyinka, defined the philosophy behind that classic prison note and detention. The Man Died.
And so it was with Obiajulu Maxwell Dim, (Obi – Links to most people, and Obi to his close associates and admirers). Though Obi was cowardly killed, he lives on in our hearts and will continue to live in the hearts of generations to come, simply because of his effort at empowering the youths. He would continue to live even long after those who killed him have been totaling forgetten.
Why was Obi brutally cut down in the prime of life? He was a devout Christian, a man of peace that eschewed any form of violence. He wanted breakthrough in life, yes. But he went about it lawfully and in the fear of God. He started grabbing the attention of business associates and his community, through sincerity, simple and honest philanthropy.
In business, he went on to explore new areas in iron and steel trade, where he brought to bear his God-given talent and innovative skill in marketing. That made his colleagues edgier still. But his reformation is today, the best thing do have happened to the Onitsha Bridge Head iron rod market. Though the wicked succeeded in sniffing life out of him, they definitely cannot kill the good works he stood for.
Like the previous unsolved murders, the kidnappers (killers) of Obiajulu were caught. I appreciate the efforts of family members and others who contributed to their arrest, especially the policemen who worked frantically to unravel the persons behind these dastardly acts.
I equally charge the police to finish the good work they started by bringing the arrested perpetrators to book. It is when they are brought to book that similar incidents can be minimized. This will go a long way in ensuring the security of Nigerians. We will continue to remind the police until justice is done.
Since the news of Dim’s tragic death spread and reverberated like wild fire throughout the nooks and crannies of Nigeria, a lot has been said about the incident and other tragedies as they affect Osumenyi in recent time.
The tragic events that befall Osumenyi Community in Nnewi South L.G.A., Anambra State since September 3, 2009 have made mourners of all of us its citizens. For sometime, the picture of those incidents would be with us.
We should not forget so early the community’s great loss in the gruesome murder of Sir John Okonkwo, Chief Luke Akunedoziobi and the recent killing of Obiajulu Dim. We must also not forget the death of Chief Meshack Umeike (Gwanwannegieziokwu), one of our best and hands who was laid to rest on Friday, 5th November, 2010.
While we deeply commiserate with the affected families, it is high time we as a town grappled with certain truths and realities of our time and go back to basics as one united and indivisible Osumenyi town.
The widow Christiana and mother Esther are hardly consoled. Their mood had been as foul as it steadily nosedived each time grief stricken sympathizers come calling. And it is understandable for a family so close to the bread winner that had been so cruelly plucked away.
Lazarus Dim is the deceased’s father and a businessman. “My son was a man of one side. He didn’t have two sides. What he said here or how he behaves here was how he was everywhere. He stood for the truth at all times. And he often didn’t bother if he made enemies. I never deluded myself to think he didn’t make any enemies because the world is a very dangerous place where people are very jealous of your character or achievements”.
Oh, see how they wasted my brother, said Chukwuemeka Williams Dim, his younger brother. “To use the word good to describe my beloved brother, is an understatement. He never used fist, but words that were stronger than his fist to make you realize your mistake or his stand on any particular issue. All of us were expected to be the best of what we wanted to be.
He was always there for us. There was this example he use to give to us at home, that if anything got missing in the house while he was growing up, our parents never called him because they knew him and his character. The message was that we should be known and trusted for saying the truth no matter the circumstances. “All of us, the siblings imbibed that character to a certain extent. You are expected to do what you had proposed to do at a particular time, and must do it the way you so pledged. We leave the away he died to god to judge.”
Birth and early life
Born in 1970 to the family of Chief Lazarus Okeke Dim and Lolo Esther Ogochukwu Dim (nee Mmadubuobi) in Umu, Dimala of Amihie village, Osumenyi, Nnewi South LGA, Anambra State.
After his early education, he joined his father’s business and later established his own with the support of his father in 1989. With luck on his side and the blessing of God, his business was in not quite a distant time blossomed to converging sister companies with concerns in Civil and Structural Engineering, Merchandizing, Transportation, Petroleum marketing and Real Estate.
With staff strength of over 300 Nigerians, Bro. Obiagulu Maxwell Dim, was saddled with the following companies as Chairman/CEO:
•Diamond Steel Company Limited
•Obi-Links Petroleum Resources Limited, and
•Maxwell Properties Limited
Brother Obiajulu Dim was a strong member of the Evangelical Fellowship of the Anglican Communion (EFAC). A loving husband, caring father and a loyal servant of God. His remains will be interred at the Osumenyi family compound today’s November 26.
Fare thee well Obi. The cowardly hands of kidnappers would never extinguish the candles you lighted in different ways in your life and career. Your sun would always outshine the darkness of the wicked.
We thank our Lord Jesus Christ for your life and service in Him and humanity. We are confident that you are in His bosom.
Sir, Israel the Akajiugo Osumenyi, is boss/mentor to the late Bro. Dim
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