December 07, (THEWILL) – If Ikedi Ohakim, former Imo State governor, could conveniently turn back the hands of time, he would have wished above all things that his path and that of socialite and luxury entrepreneur, Chinyere Amuchienwa, never crossed.
Besides engaging in a public show of shame, which further ‘demystified’ the former governor in the eyes of those who probably held him in high esteem, Ohakim’s long suffering wife, Chioma, has had to endure the humiliation of staying married to a man who chose to drag his name and that of his family in mud because of his inability to keep his pants zipper up.
64 year-old Ohakim and 57 year-old Chinyere, who is a divorcee, had a chance meeting and both began a romantic relationship. Somewhere along the line, they fell out with each other.
While Ohakim, in a petition to the police, claims Chinyere has been blackmailing him with plans to destroy him and kill him since his bid to return to Imo State Government House in 2019 failed, Chinyere claims that he owes her a large sum of money, some of which accrued from his visit to her shop where she stocks luxury items, carted away some goods and refused to pay for them.
But Ohakim claims the goods he carted away were gifts she said she bought for him when she travelled abroad. He again accused her of squandering the sum of N100 million, which he released to her for his governorship campaign in 2019, an allegation she denied, arguing that Ohakim was too broke to cough out that kind of money.
She also accused him of being a fraud, who got her a fake diamond engagement ring, but Ohakim insists that what he gave her was an expensive and original diamond ring and it was not for engagement. These accusations and counter accusations has dragged on for almost two years now, with more accusations surfacing with each passing day.
Chinyere recently accused Ohakim of conspiracy, attempted kidnapping, threat to life as well as accepting payment for the sum of N500 million for the purchase of a parcel of land in Lagos, an allegation investigated by the police and found to be untrue. This false allegation earned her an arraignment in an Abuja court for which she had to seek bail.
Not yet satisfied, Chinyere again accused Ohakim of threatening to release her nude photos, if she failed to drop charges of attempted kidnap against him. Probably exhausted with the matter, the police decided to discontinue with the case for want of evidence. At this point, the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation sought to take over the case, an application Justice Taiwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja gladly granted the AGF.
Now hearing in the case will commence on January 17, 2022 and Ohakim will be arraigned on a five-count charge of allegedly bullying, harassing, intimidating and conspiring with a certain Okpareke and others at large to send grossly offensive and pornographic pictures portraying Chinyere as an indecent and obscene character, which is offence punishable under section 27 (1) (a) of the cybercrime Act of 2015.
If only Ohakim could see the future, he probably would have respected himself as a former governor, his wife, children and grandchildren and kept his pants zipper up. Will he come out of this long winding case unscathed? That remains to be seen.
Ivory Ukonu is a versatile journalist with many years of experience, with entertainment and society reporting as her area of core competence.
