The wives of five engineers who worked for NELAN Construction Limited and were kidnapped by armed men in November 2021 while on the Abakaliki Ring Road project in Ebonyi State protested at the Federal Ministry of Works in Abuja on Monday. 

Nearly four years after the tragedy, they requested information regarding their husbands' whereabouts. 

The demonstration, which was backed by a number of civil society organizations, brought attention to what the families called the government' protracted silence and lack of accountability about the engineers' fate. 

Nelson Onyemeh, Ernest Edeani, Ikechukwu Ejiofor, Samuel Aneke, and Stanley Nwazulum are the missing engineers who were allegedly abducted in November 2021 while overseeing building on the Abakaliki Ring Road project.

The African Development Bank funded the road project, which was intended to reduce traffic jams and enhance connectivity within the state capital, as part of larger infrastructure projects meant to increase regional economic activity. 

Former governor Dave Umahi, who is currently Nigeria's Minister of Works under President Bola Tinubu's administration, was in charge of Ebonyi State at the time of the occurrence. 

The kidnapping took place in the midst of escalating security concerns in portions of South-East Nigeria, where attacks on government buildings, construction workers, and public infrastructure have been more frequent in recent years.

Threats, kidnappings, and construction activity disruptions have been reported by a number of contractors and employees involved in road and public works projects throughout the region. 

But for the families of the missing engineers, the problem has transcended more general security issues and turned into a very personal tragedy characterized by anxiety and psychological suffering.

Source