EXCLUSIVE: Tracking Records Reveal Deceased Kidnapper ‘Small’ Communicated With Umahi-Linked Ebonyi Officials Before NELAN Engineers’ Disappearance
The disturbing revelations emerged from phone tracking records and testimonies provided by family members of the missing engineers, who have continued to demand justice years after their disappearance.
Tracking records have revealed how a notorious kidnapper identified as “Small,” who was allegedly linked to the disappearance or killing of five engineers working on the Abakaliki Ring Road project in Ebonyi State, communicated repeatedly with individuals connected to the project, including lawyer Chioma Nweze and project coordinator Felix Otta.
The disturbing revelations emerged from phone tracking records and testimonies provided by family members of the missing engineers, who have continued to demand justice years after their disappearance.
The Abakaliki Ring Road project was initiated during the administration of former Ebonyi State governor Dave Umahi, who now serves as Nigeria’s Minister of Works under the government of Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
According to sources within the families of the missing engineers, phone triangulation and call records allegedly show repeated communication between the notorious kidnapper “Small” and individuals associated with the project, including Nweze and Otta.
The revelations have raised concerns about the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the five Nelan engineers, a case that has remained unresolved for years.
“Small,” whose phone number was identified as 08088985480, was allegedly the person who first contacted the family members of the engineers shortly after their disappearance.
The same criminal was also previously alleged to have been involved in the killing of Chike Akunyili, husband of the late former Minister of Information Dora Akunyili.
Family sources told SaharaReporters that “Small” made the first call demanding money after claiming that one of the engineers had been involved in an accident and urgently required funds for treatment.
Patricia Onyemeh, wife of the lead engineer, recounted in detail how the initial contact was made and how the family desperately attempted to secure the safety of their loved one.
She said, “My husband’s business partner, Engineer Benjamin Ezawu, told me that a certain number called him eight times. He did not want to answer the call because he did not know the person who was calling him.”
According to her, the persistent calls raised suspicion but eventually forced the family to investigate the number.
“The person called him eight times. He did not answer because he didn’t know who was calling. Later, he tried to return the call but the number rang out and the person refused to answer,” she explained.
She added that the number was later forwarded to her brother who lives in Abuja.
“He then gave the number to my brother who is staying in Abuja. My brother called the number immediately and was able to reach the person,” Patricia said.
When the call eventually connected, the caller made a shocking claim.
According to Patricia, the individual said her husband had been involved in an accident and demanded money for medical treatment.
“We found through the caller that the person was calling from Abakaliki. The person informed us that my husband had an accident and that we should bring money for drugs,” she said.
The alleged kidnapper demanded ₦50,000 as an urgent payment.
“He said we should bring ₦50,000. By then I had informed the police,” she said.
She explained that one of her husband’s close friends in the police assisted in handling the situation.
“One of my husband’s friends, at that time he was an Assistant Commissioner of Police but now he is a Commissioner of Police, had links to Abakaliki because he had worked there before. So, I informed him,” she said.
Despite police involvement, the family was advised to make the payment to possibly track the suspect.
“Then he said I should bring the money. I transferred the ₦50,000. I gave him the ₦50,000,” Patricia explained.
However, the expected breakthrough never happened.
“They transferred it, hoping maybe to trap the man when he would collect the money. But in the long run nothing was done. Nothing was done at all,” she lamented.
Meanwhile, phone tracking records reviewed by SaharaReporters show that the number allegedly belonging to “Small” was in communication with individuals connected to the Abakaliki Ring Road project.
According to the documents, the suspected kidnapper’s number interacted with numbers allegedly linked to both Chioma Nweze and project coordinator Felix Otta.
A family source familiar with the investigation said the triangulation results suggested communication between the suspected kidnappers and individuals connected to the project.
“If you look at the diagram, you will see him interacting with Chioma,” the source told SaharaReporters while referring to the tracking records.
The source further alleged that Nweze, who was at the time reportedly close to then-Governor Umahi and involved in the Ring Road project, appeared repeatedly in the call analysis.
“The triangulation and tracking shows that Barrister Chioma Nweze, who was a close adviser to Umahi and who was also in charge of the Ring Road project, was discussing with the main targets, those kidnappers,” the source alleged.
“He was conversing with them because we have the phone number of the first kidnapper that called us.”
The source insisted that the records demonstrate multiple contacts.
“Chioma was communicating with him through the tracking records. We have those records,” the source added.
In addition to Nweze, the tracking analysis allegedly revealed interactions involving Felix Otta, who served as project coordinator for the Ring Road project.
According to the source, Otta was also in communication with the same individuals believed to be behind the kidnapping.
“Felix Otta was also interacting with those kidnappers,” the source said.
“They were all reporting to Chioma.”
Unsatisfied with the progress of the official investigation, the families said they hired a private tracker to conduct an independent analysis of the call records.
According to the source, the private investigation allegedly produced similar findings.
“Later the private tracker I was using started working for Umahi, so I left him and got another tracker,” the source said.
The second tracker allegedly provided another report showing links to the same individuals.
“The tracker I got later gave me another report linking Chioma Nweze with the person who was communicating with the phone of one of the engineers,” the source said.
The family claims to still possess the report.
A former officer of the Department of State Services (DSS), identified as Victor Chijioke Oyeso, also confirmed to SaharaReporters that the suspected kidnapper known as “Small” had been tracked during the investigation.
According to him, the criminal was known to investigators.
“Yes, I heard Small was killed last year,” Oyeso said.
Another investigator, Bruno Okonkwo, who served as the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) on the case in 2021, reportedly exhumed skeletal remains believed to belong to some of the victims.
Okonkwo also reportedly informed the families about the fate of the suspected kidnapper.
According to the source, “Bruno Okonkwo told me on February 13, 2026 that Small, the kidnapper who first contacted us, was killed by the Anambra Vigilante group in 2025.”
However, the information appears to contradict earlier police statements.
“The Commissioner of Police back in 2021 told us that Small had already been killed by his own people,” the source said.
The conflicting reports have added to the confusion surrounding the investigation.
Years after the disappearance of the five engineers, the families say they remain devastated and frustrated by what they describe as a lack of accountability.
They insist that the tracking records and testimonies provide enough evidence to warrant further investigation into the alleged communications.
“We just want justice,” one family member told SaharaReporters.
“These were innocent engineers who came to work on a government project. They never came back home.”
The families have urged law enforcement agencies and the federal government to reopen the case and thoroughly investigate the allegations raised by the tracking records.
All efforts to contact Felix Otta were unsuccessful, as his phone number was unreachable and he did not respond to the message sent to him.
When SaharaReporters contacted Chioma Nweze, the Senior Special Assistant to Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Community Engagement (South-East), she threatened to sue the newspaper.
“There is no communication between me and any attackers and I don’t know any attackers. You must send me the chart by DSS unless I will sue you,” she said.
