The cadet was reportedly murdered on April 9, 2024, at Hotel Royale Damgrate in Umuahia, where his lifeless body was later found dumped inside the hotel’s swimming pool under circumstances that have continued to raise serious questions.
Nearly two years after the brutal killing of Nigerian Air Force cadet Emmanuel Chidiebere Onyeomereneche in Umuahia, Abia State, his family says the Nigeria Police Force has failed to act on a formal directive by the Police Service Commission (PSC) ordering a thorough investigation into the case.
The cadet was reportedly murdered on April 9, 2024, at Hotel Royale Damgrate in Umuahia, where his lifeless body was later found dumped inside the hotel’s swimming pool under circumstances that have continued to raise serious questions.
SaharaReporters had earlier reported the killing and allegations of irregularities surrounding the initial police handling of the case, including claims of clandestine involvement by a police team attached to the Central Police Station (CPS), Umuahia, allegedly led by a Divisional Crime Officer (DCO II), identified as Mr. Eric Obeji.
In his continued search for justice, the victim’s father, Mr. Ephraim Onyeomereneche, told SaharaReporters on Friday, he has visited several government institutions, human rights organisations and media platforms to demand accountability for the death of his son, whom he described as “a young man full of promise, discipline and dreams of serving his country.”
One of those efforts led him to Human Rights Radio in Abuja, popularly known as the Brekete Family, where the case was publicly discussed.
Following the broadcast, the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, DIG Hashimu Salihu Argungu (rtd.), reportedly issued a formal letter to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), directing the Force Headquarters to immediately commence a “thorough and transparent investigation” into the killing.
According to the family, the directive also mandated investigators to revisit and properly examine the crime scene at Hotel Royale Damgrate.
However, nearly two years later, Mr. Onyeomereneche told SaharaReporters in an interview that nothing has come of the PSC’s intervention.
“It is on record that till date, the letter from the Police Service Commission to the IGP has either been filed away, forgotten, or thrown into the dustbin,” he said.
The grieving father expressed deep frustration and disappointment at what he described as institutional indifference.
“I have knocked on many doors. I have written petitions. I have gone to the media. I have gone to Abuja. Yet, nobody seems ready to tell me who killed my son,” he lamented.
Quoting popular aphorisms to describe his despair, Mr. Onyeomereneche said: “He who doesn’t live to serve, doesn’t serve to live. The world is not going badly because of the wickedness of the bad, but because of the apathy of the good.”
When contacted earlier on the matter, the Head of Protocol and Public Affairs of the Police Service Commission, Mr. Torty Njoku Kalu, confirmed that the PSC had taken the necessary step by writing to the Force Headquarters.
“The PSC has done what is expected of them. Further action is left for the Force Headquarters to whom the matter was referred,” Kalu reportedly said.
For Mr. Onyeomereneche, that response offers little comfort.
“I was assured that justice would be done. The PSC Chairman gave assurances. But almost two years after my son was murdered and dumped in a swimming pool like an animal, nothing has happened,” he said.
He described Emmanuel as “a disciplined young cadet who believed in Nigeria and wanted to defend the country,” adding that the family has been left with “unending pain, unanswered questions and a sense that his life does not matter.”
Human rights advocates say the case highlights a broader crisis of accountability within Nigeria’s security architecture, where families of victims often struggle for years without seeing credible investigations or prosecutions.
Mr. Onyeomereneche is now calling directly on the Inspector-General of Police to obey the PSC’s directive and reopen the case.
“All I want is justice for my son,” he said quietly. “I want to know what happened to Emmanuel. I want those responsible to face the law. Is that too much to ask in a country my son was ready to die for?”
SaharaReporters had reported in September 2025 that the family decried what it described as a “seeming conspiracy” by security agencies to shield those responsible for Chidiebere’s death more than a year after the incident.
Chidiebere was killed at Hotel Royal Damgrete in Umuahia, Abia State, on April 9, 2024. His body was later dumped into the hotel’s swimming pool by then fellow cadet officers - Valentine Ucheji Obeji and his police conspirators led by his brother, Eric Obeji in an alleged attempt to make it appear that he drowned.
Initially, the Abia State Police Command announced that the cadet drowned while swimming. However, an autopsy report issued on June 29, 2024, contradicted that account, confirming that he was murdered and likely thrown into the pool to conceal the crime.
A subsequent final autopsy report dated August 18, 2024, signed by Prof. M.A. Nnoli, Associate Prof. O.O. Jegede (Molecular Pathologist), Dr. Chukwuegbo C.C. and Dr. Ogbata S.E., ruled out poisoning as the cause of death.
The report stated: “We certify the cause of death in our opinion to be: 1a. Intracranial Haematoma; 1b. Skeletal Injury (Skull Fracture – Occipital & Right Parietal Region) and 1c. Soft Tissue Injury (Blunt Head Trauma – Occipital Region).”
It further explained: “Following the sudden blunt injury (soft tissue injury) at the back of the neck with consequent formation of subcutaneous haematoma and fracture as stated above, there is likely damage to vasomotor/ baroreceptor centres and nerve roots as the area is very prone to injury. These structures control the cardiovascular and respiratory centres and could have accounted for sudden death seen.”
The case took an even darker turn with the killing of a hotel staff member who was believed to have information about Chidiebere’s death.
SaharaReporters reported on April 13, 2024, that a sectional manager at the hotel, James Etubi, was allegedly beaten to death inside a military barracks in Abia State to cover-up the crime having reportedly witnessed the murder.
The beaten was reportedly supervised by one Major Inuwa.
Major Inuwa was reportedly investigating Chidiebere’s death when he ordered soldiers, including one of the cadets who accompanied Chidiebere to the hotel, to beat four hotel staff invited for interrogation. Mr. Etubi later died from the assault.
SaharaReporters also reported on October 2, 2025, that Etubi’s family accused the military and police of conspiracy and shoddy investigation into his murder.
Speaking to SaharaReporters, Mr. Etubi Ukwumonun, the elder brother of the deceased hotel manager, said two prime suspects were initially identified in connection with Etubi’s killing.
“When my brother was killed, two suspects were identified – Peter Ndubuwa and Valentine Obeji, who were cadets at that time,” he said. “Then there were other military personnel who participated and in whose barracks the crime was committed.”
He alleged that while one suspect was protected, the other was used as a scapegoat.
“Right from the day after my brother, James Etubi, was killed, Valentine took off to Jaji and, from the look of things, he was shielded and eventually sent out to the UK for a training course despite the public outcry against him and what had transpired. Now he is a commissioned officer into Nigerian Air Force,” Ukwumonun said.
According to him, Peter Ndubuwa was dismissed from the Nigerian Defence Academy and handed over to the police, but the prosecution has been weak.
“The police investigation was inadequate, and the case file submitted to the Attorney General’s office lacked sufficient evidence to indict Peter,” he added.