By Bernard Okoro
For years, Bonfere Ogala navigated the murky waters of Delta State politics, believing his loyalty to the ruling party would guarantee his safety and protect his family. But in a region where power shifts like the wind and alliances are often temporary, his story is one of loyalty, betrayal, and unanswered questions.
It was on the evening of 18 August 2024 when suddenly, we heard loud gunshots ringing out across the area. Witnesses believed that the attackers had laid an ambush, waiting for the car they knew belonged to Bonfere Ogala. They did not realise that the man behind the wheel that night was not Bonfere, but his younger brother, Ewere Vickram Ogala, who had just returned from India as a fresh graduate.
The crisis reached a breaking point years earlier, when Bonfere made the fateful decision to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the Labour Party. In doing so, he stepped out of the protection of his former allies and into the open where he could be easily silenced.
He disclosed that long before his brother’s death, he had faced repeated threats. In 2019, he was kidnapped alongside his political benefactor, Late Ijeh Lawrence Ngozi, who was killed in the incident. Bonfere survived but carried the scars. Then in December 2022, assassins raided his house in Asaba, the Delta State capital. He narrowly escaped with his life, but the warning was clear — he was marked for elimination.
When he fled Nigeria, he thought he had put distance between himself and danger. But the attack on his brother proved that the threat did not end with his departure. The killers had mistaken Ewere for Bonfere, seeing only the car and not the face behind the wheel. Ewere, who had just returned home full of hope and plans for the future, became a victim of a political vendetta meant for another.
Since that fateful night, the Ogala family has lived in fear and grief. Their home remains under watch, family businesses have been threatened, and appeals to the police have yielded little result. The family’s ordeal is a painful reminder of how political violence continues to plague parts of Nigeria, where old scores are settled and silence is often the only response from authorities.
Today, Bonfere bears the heavy weight of the loss of his brother, the loss of his home, and the loss of the life he once knew. What remains is the knowledge that as long as he is alive, the danger that followed him across borders will not rest.
