How Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Died In London
Exclusively from Vanguard News,
22 days after his 78th birthday, former Biafran leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu succumbed to the cold hands of death.
The family said in a statement that their patriarch died of stroke in the Royal Berkshire Hospital, United Kingdom, in the early hours of yesterday. The National Chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), the platform on which Ojukwu sought to become president in 2003 and 2007, and which Board of Trustees (BoT) he headed, Chief Victor Umeh, said the former warlord, passed on at about 2.30 a.m. yesterday.
Ojukwu had been flown to the London hospital almost one year ago, precisely December 23, 2010, after he suffered what doctors called “massive stroke” and went unconscious.
He was initially treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu, before the trip abroad in an air ambulance.
Tributes poured in, in torrents, yesterday, as the death of the man who led the Igbo on a secessionist bid in the name of Biafra between 1966 and 1970 spread across the country. President Goodluck Jonathan said the memory of the late Ojukwu would live forever, given the “uncommon qualitative leadership he gave to his people”. General Yakubu Gowon, who was Head of State during the civil war, said Ojukwu, after Biafra, joined to move Nigeria forward. The governor of his home state, Anambra, Mr. Peter Obi, in a statement, entitled, `Our father is gone’, said the Igbo and the nation have lost a treasure.
When Igbo leaders converged at the GRA, Enugu residence of Ojukwu on November 4, 2011 to mark his 78th birthday in his absence, little did they know that the funeral of Eze Igbo Gburugburu was coming so soon. But what appeared to be a premonition of his death was made during the well-attended ceremony organized by the leader of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, Chief Ralph Uwazurike, when it was announced that the Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha Diocese, Most Rev. Dr. Valerian Okeke, would leave for London to pray for Ojukwu and anoint him.
Although several speakers, including the clergy, prayed fervently for his quick recovery and early return to his fatherland, the mood of the people that graced the occasion conveyed the impression that the ex-warlord may not return alive. The National Chairman of Ojukwu’s All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, told the audience that the Catholic Archbishop would depart for London to pray for Ojukwu as other prominent members of the clergy including bishops from some orthodox churches had done since Ojukwu was flown to London on December 23, 2010 aboard a German Air Ambulance hired by Anambra State government.
Okeke actually traveled to London in the second week of November and anointed Ojukwu, prayed for him and returned to Nigeria, last week, but details of his trip to the hospital could not be ascertained. It was learnt that when the former Biafran leader’s condition deteriorated, last weekend, Governor Peter Obi left for London to see him. He was said to be on his way back to Nigeria when he heard of Ojukwu’s death, yesterday morning, and returned to London where he joined the wife of the former warlord, Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu, and others who had taken care of him in the hospital since the last one year.
Ojukwu was hit by what medical experts described as “massive stroke” on December 1, 2010. He was attended to by a team of medical experts who battled to resuscitate him at home before he was moved to the ICU of the UNTH, Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu.
From the time Ojukwu was attacked by stroke, up till the time he was moved to London, he was said to be under “generous support” by his wife, Bianca, the APGA and the governor of Anambra State “From the time he was attacked by stroke till the present day he has been under generous support by his wife, Bianca Ojukwu, the APGA and His Excellency, Mr. Peter Obi, Governor of Anambra State.
When he first took ill on December 1, he was immediately looked after by two Professors of Medicine here in Enugu namely Professor Vincent Ike, a Consultant Cardiologists and Professor Augustine Nwabueze, a British-trained Consultant Neuro physician,”APGA National Chairman, Umeh, said while reacting to the allegation that Ojukwu had been abandoned by his associates on account of his ill-health. “Under their close watch, Dim Ojukwu was managed with excellent medical knowledge within the first two weeks and when he slipped into coma on December 19, 2010 he was immediately moved to the UNTH Enugu where he was taken in by the Intensive Care Unit of the Teaching Hospital.
“Before he slipped into coma efforts were initiated and intensified to fly him abroad. We had to go through the process of getting visa and arranging Air Ambulance to evacuate him from Nigeria. When the situation was deteriorating, efforts were intensified in all these directions and successfully on December 23, Dim Ojukwu was flown to London by a German Air Ambulance that came directly from France to Enugu to take him. He was accompanied on that trip under very critical condition by his dear wife, Bianca Ojukwu and his Chief of Staff, Prince Bob Onyema. Two of them with the Ambulance Team left Enugu airport for London under very critical condition.
“In London, he was immediately admitted at the London Clinic where he was moved into the Intensive Care Unit, ICU. From December 2010 to March 2011, Ojukwu remained in the ICU of London Clinic. It was by the mercy of God that he went through that process and recovered consciousness and came out of ICU. There is no gainsaying that all the people he met at the ICU, I mean co-patients including those that came in after him all died except him to the Glory of God.
“When he recovered sufficiently at the London Clinic, he was moved to Wellington Hospital still in London where he stayed between March and May this year. There his recovery was intensely facilitated. When he improved substantially, he was again moved to Lydenhill Therapeutic Centre in Twyford which is very famous in the world for physiotherapy. All these three hospitals mentioned enjoy excellent facilities with very brilliant doctors and other professionals.
“At the Lynenhill centre, he had chest infection due to cough and he was quickly moved to Berkshire hospital that was nearby the Therapeutic Centre and he has since been there under excellent care and he is responding to treatment. All his medical bills from December 23 when he was moved to London and around these various hospitals, had been promptly paid by the Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi till date.”
Umeh also explained that while in London, Bianca remained with Ojukwu except on the occasional times she visited Nigeria to see her children and take care of the few house needs before going back to London. He said: “Since Ojukwu’s movement to London I as the National Chairman of APGA and my wife have visited him in February and also visited him after the election in May where I went to brief him on the outcome of the elections. The governor of Anambra State had also visited him. When I was in London, our new Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha came on May 13 with his wife and I took them to the hospital where they saw Ojukwu.
“Other notable members of our party have also visited Ojukwu in London since then. The acting Nigerian High Commissioner to London, His Excellency, Ambassador Dozie Nwanna who hails from Awka, since Ojukwu’s arrival in London on December 23, became part of the daily routine for monitoring his health, first as the Nigerian High Commissioner to London and two, as an Igbo man including his wife.”
The APGA chief further said: “Former Health Minister, Dr. Tim Menakaya, Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu and so many other Igbos had visited Ojukwu in London, adding that at the London Clinic and Wellington hospital “Ojukwu is known as a General and excellent and qualified professionals took special interest in him and they said they have never had such a patient in their history going by the way people had been coming to see him, that he must be a famous man.”
How Ojukwu left for UK in air ambulance
AT the Intensive Care Unit of UNTH, medical experts declared that Ojukwu had a cerebra-vascular accident otherwise called stroke. The hospital only tried to sustain him for few days and in the process prepared him for the critical journey to London.
On December 23, Ojukwu began his last journey to London, the United Kingdom aboard the German Air Ambulance. He was evacuated from the Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu at 1.52 pm to United Kingdom by Flight Ambulance International of Germany hired by Anambra State government. The flight was said to be the first international aircraft to move from the airport which was granted an international status by the Jonathan-led Federal Government mid last year.
Being an international flight, four officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service were at the Enugu airport to stamp Ojukwu’s international passport, that of his wife, Bianca and his Chief of Staff, Prince Jonathan Bob Onyema, who accompanied him on the medical trip. There was a mild drama at the UNTH while Ojukwu was being taken to the Enugu airport when his aides and family members at the hospital cordoned off the ICU to prevent journalists from taking pictures as he was being evacuated.
His movement into the Enugu State Emergency Management Response Team ambulance at 10.55 a.m. that fateful day was handled with caution as medical experts warned that the life supporting machine could stop functioning if mishandled. The former Biafran leader was brought to the airport at 11.40 am accompanied by Governor Obi, APGA chieftains and his family members among others.
He was driven to the Air Force Wing of the airport where the air ambulance was stationed. The Enugu Air Force Commander, Air Commodore Jacob Gbamwuan, had given approval for the use of the Air Force Wing as a mark of respect for the then ailing General. The slow but steady journey from UNTH located at Ituku-Ozalla to the airport at Emene, Enugu was described as very smooth but the journey, which normally takes about 10 to 15 minutes, lasted for about 45 minutes as the ambulance driver drove with strict caution.
On arrival at the airport, Ojukwu was driven close to the side of the air Ambulance which had touched down at 10.45 am and headed straight to the Air Force Wing of the airport. The crew members immediately evacuated him into the white aircraft marked D-CSIX. The air ambulance itself, according to an aviation expert, was an Intensive Care Unit with sophisticated medical facilities that could sustain a patient airborne for several hours like a normal ICU of a first class hospital.
The Ikemba’s aides confirmed on December 24, 2010 that Ojukwu arrived the London Hospital without hitches and was accorded first class treatment by medical experts there until he gave up the ghost.
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