Kidnapped Former Enugu Council Chairman Afam Okereke Once Hawked Fruits, Groundnuts

Afam Okereke, former council chairman of Nkanu West local government chairman of Enugu State, was Monday kidnapped in Port-Harcourt after a movie production.

It was reported that Afam’s abductors had contacted his family, demanding N10m ransom. The police have confirmed his abduction.

Hon Afam Nwabueze Okereke attended Uwani River Primary School, Enugu, from 1979 to 1985, and College of the Immaculate Conception (CIC), Enugu, from 1986 to 1991.

He obtained a higher national diploma in mass communication from the Institute of Management and Technology, (IMT), Enugu, in 1998, after which he proceeded to Jigawa State for the National Youth Service Corps programme in 1999, and passed out in the year 2000. Afam holds a masters degree in public administration from Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT.

Afam, at 12, began to sell fruits, water, bread and groundnuts. From there he started sponsoring himself from his junior secondary school II. He later ran a barbers shop in Achara Layout, Enugu, popularly called Home Boyz Barbers. He also joined a theatre group named Aprotek.

His foray into the movie industry began in 1995 when he was undergoing his industrial attachment at the Enugu State Broadcasting Service, ESBS, where he was eventually retained as a guest artist and subsequently employed.

He told this medium prior to his kidnap that, “I am in the industry to make it better than I met it. I delved into writing and directing movies to contribute positively to the industry.”

The antithesis of Okereke’s career was when he was involved in a ghastly motor accident. It ushered him into a moment of introspection as he took time off to look into the profession holistically in Nigeria. The incident occurred during the production of the movie ‘Last Command’, where he was the sub-lead character.

Okereke’s foray into the movie industry extends beyond the shores of Nigeria. He collaborated with some filmmakers in Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Ghana in his quest to make the industry have a new paradigm on the continent. Afam has not only written, acted, produced and directed movies of repute, he also bankrolled, and invests heavily as an executive producer in international standard film projects, such as Aguba Igogoro.

Most of his movies, such as Aguba Igogoro, were subtitled in French for the Francophone market. The partnership also led to the production of the classical Lamour en Cris Love in Crisis, which is an expose on the trauma of war in Ivory Coast.

Former Governor of Enugu State, Barr. Sullivan Chime, is among the high-profiled fans of Okereke in the movie industry. It is to this end that Gov Chime, in 2011, appointed him as his senior special assistant on media and publicity.

The high point of his achiements as SSA to the governor was his active involvement/initiation to resuscitate the moribund Enugu State Broadcasting Service, encompassing the states radio and television stations, which the then governor took interest in. Today, the ESBS is the flagship of broadcasting in the state.

In 2013, he vied and won the chairmanship of Nkanu West LGA under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Okereke transformed the local government into an egalitarian council both in human contents and infrastructure. He is on record to have given a facelift to the local government secretariat, Agbani, for the first time since 1976, among other developmental strides.

Hon Okereke, a prolific filmmaker, astute public administrator, and seasoned media consultant, is happily married to Ugochi Afam-Okereke and blessed with four children, three boys and a girl: Kamsy, Miracle, Angel, and Ugomsy Afam Okereke.