The political nightmare that erupted after Nigeria’s February 25, 2023, presidential election, featuring key candidates like Bola Tinubu (APC), Atiku Abubakar (PDP), Peter Obi (LP), and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (NNPP), has left lasting scars on many families, including that of Mr. Precious Eghosa Iyalekhue.
Before the elections, Mr. Precious had been a passionate advocate for good governance. He traveled across communities, encouraging youths, local leaders, and private stakeholders to support credible candidates, leaders with no records of corruption or criminality. His only “offense” was campaigning openly and peacefully for the Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
As election day approached, political tensions boiled over in several parts of the country. Thugs allegedly loyal to powerful figures within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) launched violent campaigns to suppress opposition voices. Many polling centers were attacked, voters intimidated, and peace disrupted.
Following the elections, the threats against Mr. Precious escalated.
On June 12, 2023, unknown men stormed his family home, demanding to see him. According to his father, Mr Patrick Egharevba Iyalekhue, my second son osarodion iyalekhue was home with my eldest sons wife stephine Sophia iyalekhue when some men arrived, looking him. According to my second son explanation, my son wife asked them who they were and what they wanted, but they refused to say. They left without explanation, only to return a few days later with a chilling message, that if they came back again and didn’t find my son, they would kill anyone they met. My son wife immediately alerted her husband and they went to the police to report the threat, but the police said they couldn’t act unless the attackers were identified. It felt like the system had already failed us.”
Frightened but hoping it was an empty threat, the family tried to carry on. However, rumors circulating within the community pointed to known political thugs, allegedly protected by top APC figures. These men were said to be hunting those who had publicly challenged their dominance or promoted opposition voices.
Then came the horror of November 24, 2023.
An eyewitness, who requested anonymity, said armed thugs stormed the Iyalekhue home again, this time more vicious and determined. Mr. Precious and his wife narrowly escaped through the back door, fleeing in different directions to survive. The attackers left the house in ruins, scrawling a terrifying message: “Next time, you’ll burn.”
Around December, Mr. Patrick Egharevba Iyalekhue said his son placed a final, tearful call to his wife stephine who happened to been in my house at that time. “He said he was on the run, constantly changing locations, and receiving death threats. He believed they were tracking his movements through digital means. He begged her to look for somewhere safe, he feared it would only endanger us.”
Since that call, there has been no word from Precious and haven’t seen his wife because the day she left my house I wasn’t home, only to be told she has left without telling us where she went to with her condition. His phones and that of his wife have remained unreachable. The family lives in anguish, unsure whether he is hiding or has met a worse fate.
“I’m speaking out now,” his father added, “because I want justice for my son and protection for my family as this criminal keeps on threatening us. He didn’t commit a crime. All he did was speak for what he believed would help Nigeria.”