Sparda

TODAY IN HISTORY: NOVEMBER 3 The Disappearance of Five NELAN Engineers During Dave Umahi's Administration On November 3, 2021, five engineers working with NELAN Consultants left Enugu for Ebonyi State on an official assignment connected to the Abakaliki Ring Road Phase II project. They travelled in an official Toyota Hilux with registration number ERR 001 EB. They never returned. The five engineers were Engr. Nelson Onyemeh, Lead Consultant and Chief Executive Officer of NELAN Consultants, from Ihiala, Anambra State; Engr. Ernest Edeani, from Nkanu, Enugu State; Engr. Ikechukwu Ejiofor, from Umunya, Anambra State; Engr. Samuel Aneke, from Nkanu, Enugu State; and Engr. Stanley Nwazulum, from Amawbia, Anambra State. Before their disappearance, serious disagreements had reportedly developed between NELAN Consultants and the administration of then-Governor Dave Umahi over the management, supervision and financial control of the AfDB-funded road project. According to allegations made by the families of the missing engineers, the Umahi administration wanted NELAN to take a back seat and allow the state government greater control over the project, including issuing payment certificates and giving instructions to contractors. The families further alleged that the government wanted NELAN to approve certificates of satisfactory completion for work supervised or executed by other engineers and contractors. NELAN reportedly resisted, arguing that such actions would violate the terms of its consultancy contract with the African Development Bank (AfDB), compromise its professional responsibilities and potentially expose the firm to sanctions. On the day they disappeared, the five engineers reportedly travelled to Effium, in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, to carry out supervisory work on the road project. They were said to have arrived in the area at about 2 p.m. and were expected to meet a man identified as Ken Okeh around 3 p.m. to discuss accommodation arrangements. That was the last known sighting of the five engineers. Their disappearance prompted NELAN Consultants to petition the Inspector-General of Police, while the case attracted national attention and calls for a thorough investigation. Five years after they left Enugu for what should have been a routine professional assignment, the whereabouts of Nelson Onyemeh, Ernest Edeani, Ikechukwu Ejiofor, Samuel Aneke and Stanley Nwazulum remain unknown. Neither the engineers nor their remains have been recovered. What happened to the five NELAN engineers?