By Obinna Iwuoha
The political terrain of Imo West (Orlu Zone) has been thrown into turmoil following the shocking revelation that Chief Emma Okafor, popularly known as Agujiegbe and the chief technical director of Senator Osita Izunaso’s 2023 senatorial campaign, has announced his intention to commit suicide on June 15, 2025.
This, he says, will be the ultimate consequence of the “betrayal, abandonment, and dehumanization” he has suffered at the hands of the senator he helped to power.
In a chilling and heart-wrenching audio recording now trending across social media platforms, Chief Okafor detailed his descent into personal ruin after staking his life, reputation, and resources on Izunaso’s campaign.
According to the veteran political tactician, there was a verbal agreement between him and Senator Izunaso that upon the successful election of the senator, Okafor would be compensated with ₦200 million and a brand new jeep. Two years on, not a single promise has been fulfilled.
“I spent everything I had. I poured my soul into Izunaso’s campaign. I left my home in Orlu and moved around every village to campaign for him. Criminals looted my home in my absence. My wife has left me. My children are scattered. My life is in tatters. All because I chose to trust Osita Izunaso,” Okafor lamented in the now viral recording.
The most heart-wrenching part of the revelation came when Chief Okafor recounted how he approached Senator Izunaso for a loan of ₦1.5 million to bury his late father-in-law. He offered title documents of ten plots of land as collateral. The senator, according to him, bluntly ignored him.
“Even if I was a stranger, would this be fair? I gave him my all. He used me. Now, I’m a nobody. He sent his people to WhatsApp groups to mock me, insult me, and call me names. They said I should go ahead and die. I have scheduled my death for June 15. That is my answer to the mockery.”
This saga has exploded into a full-blown scandal, raising critical questions about the ethical vacuum and extreme moral decay in Nigeria’s politics, where loyalty is met with cruelty, and service is repaid with betrayal. Senator Osita Izunaso, who rode to victory in 2023 largely on the back of grassroots mobilization executed by foot soldiers like Chief Okafor, has not issued any formal statement in response to the allegations. Instead, his media aides and loyalists have taken to WhatsApp and Facebook, spewing venom on the distressed Okafor, mocking his plight, and daring him to carry out his suicide threat.
This heartless behavior from a sitting senator’s camp has triggered outrage from civil society groups, mental health advocates, and political observers who see the unfolding tragedy as symptomatic of a deeper, festering rot in Nigerian leadership.
“This is not just a political betrayal. It is a human tragedy. That a man is being mocked and pushed closer to the brink of suicide by the very people he labored for is an indictment on the entire political establishment,” said Dr. Ifeoma Nwachukwu, a psychologist based in Owerri.
Calls are now mounting for an urgent intervention, both to save Chief Okafor’s life and to hold Senator Izunaso accountable for the alleged verbal agreement and for the shameful actions of his media team.
It is important to recall that Senator Osita Izunaso is not new to power. He was first elected into the Senate in 2007 and returned in 2023 after years in political wilderness. Many believe that this comeback was made possible by a complex web of grassroots alliances, most notably the efforts of local strategists like Chief Okafor. To now discard such a loyal ally in this cruel manner is being seen as a dark stain on the senator’s legacy.
The people of Orlu Zone, especially the youth, are watching closely. Civil society must not remain silent. No political office is worth the life of a man who believed in a cause and gave everything for it.
Chief Emma Okafor’s life is hanging by a thread. As June 15 approaches, the world waits: Will Osita Izunaso continue his silence, and bloodlessly watch a man he used be buried by betrayal?.
