A Benue man, a politician and convener of the Owukpa Peace Moving Train, Mr Ewaoche Obe, has been thrown out of the house he personally built after his wife, living in the same building allegedly connived with some security operatives from the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, to evict him from their house located on Sagwari Layout of Dutse, Bwari Area Council – Abuja.
The wife identified as Kristie Obe had been married to Mr Obe since 2006. The couple hailed from Ogbadibo LGA of Benue State. While Chief Obe is the son of the popular Dr Obe from Owukpa, the estranged wife, hailed from Oko in Orokam. Orokam and Owukpa share boundaries and inter-marriages often happen among them.
In the culture of both Orokam and Owukpa, it is abominable for a woman to throw his wife’s properties out of the house under any guise. The Alekwu of both communities often recognizes the man as the head of the house and must not be thrown out either justly or unjustly. It is expected that couple should always travel home to settle their differences with elders once a matter escalates beyond their handling.
However, on September 25, Mr Ewaoche, a former Benue Governorship candidate for the African Action Congress, AAC, in the 2023 elections, while on his way to Benue State received a call that some security operatives had gained access to his house and had began to evict him from his house. The politician swiftly turned and returned after he had gone as far as Keffi in Nasarawa State.
Upon returning to the house, he was handed a court document where it was stated that the same house had been confiscated over an outstanding loan taken by his wife.
But Chief Obe told our correspondent upon getting to the scene that he was never issued any court notice prior to the day his house was invaded for the eviction.
Some military men in uniform and police officers were seen at the scene with Mr Ewaoche’s property littered across the street of Sagwari Layout.
Mr Ewaoche intermittently told our correspondent that “She has done her worse. This is a house I built with my hard-earned money.”
Obe, also in a Facebook live claimed his wife stormed the house that belongs to him in collusion with some officers, wondering why a court could confiscate a property without prior notices.
Asked whether he was contacted by the lenders when the loan was taken, Mr Ewaoche said he had no knowledge the wife took any loan and was never contacted prior to the alleged loan.
He also disclosed that the wife too his son away to a place, apparently to a new apartment prior to the incident.
He also denied being served any court paper prior to the eviction.
He told our correspondent, “ I was never served. This was plotted by my wife and the officers that came. We have been having issues for a while and I think this is her best way of getting at me.”
Mrs Obe works with the Nigerian Air Force Consuites in Abuja as an accounts officer. Our correspondent gathered that could be the reason for her strong link with the Air Force and the reason they provided security for her to carry out the eviction.
It was gathered that some days before the eviction, Kristie had moved some of her things out of the house including some of the air-conditioners in the house. She went away unquestioned as Mr Ewaoche claimed he did not want to create a scene.
Meanwhile, our correspondent obtained the court papers served during the eviction. In the court paper, it was claimed the claimant had lived in the said duplex as a tenant.
A family member who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “ How can you use a house you claim to be a tenant as a collateral? This claim isn’t making any sense at all.
“Ewaoche has invested a lot in this woman, even the job she currently has came from him. He saw this woman through school and has invested in her life in so many other ways. How do you connive with external persons to bring down a man you have lived with for more than two decades? How?.
“From the look of things, it is clear this is a clear case of oppression. Assuming this happened to a woman, we will say is because “na woman. This is a direct opposite. How can wife take a loan without informing the husband? Why did the lender not call to get details from property owner? Who values a house without a man who owns it? Something is seriously missing in all these.
“We gathered that the court papers are all fake and the people commissioned to carry out the eviction were mobilized illegally. We want the Air Force and the police to investigate the officers in the video.”
When our correspondent reached out to Kristie, she claimed the network was poor and could not respond to enquiries. Though she picked the several calls put through to her, she claimed network could not allow her to continue in the conversation.
A follow-up call to Kristie also failed as she claimed she was in a zoom meeting, promising to call back. She never did. Text messages forwarded to her never got a single reply as at press time, even after requesting that a text message been sent to her.