* How she ruined Oyakhilome’s career
Yes, same old Jennifer Madike is dead. In the early 80s, to social upstarts and those who look up to rich men and women, irrespective of source, as role models, Jenniefer was the quintessential model some years back. No one would forget so easily, Jennifer Madike, the popular drug baroness in the 80s. She was once notable for living out loud but no sooner than the NDLEA started querying and clamping down on moneybags whose sources of money seemed suspicious, Jennifer beat a hasty retreat from the fast lane.
It would be recalled that she painted the town red and rocked every city she visited to the hilt back when she traversed the fast lane in the 80s. Jennifer partied hard and wild at home and abroad. She remained prime favourite of high society as the society courted her and local musicians sang her praises endlessly.
Party planners and celebrants sought her presence at their parties as her presence always assured all and sundry that crisp notes in foreign and local currency would be sprayed extravagantly. But alas, nothing lasts forever. Yes, she became a Pastor at Spirit and Life Bible Church with headquarters in Benin City. For a long time, nothing was heard about the former colourful socialite until she passed away. Time wiped off the memories of ‘Madike Baby’ as popularly praise-sung by laudatory musicians of those good old days.
However, the riveting tale of love-gone-sour between the chairman of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Fidelis Oyakhilome, and Jennifer generated interest nationwide between 1990 and 1991. Oyakhilome, a dashing, handsome police officer, before he took up the mantle at the NDLEA, was the military governor of Rivers State.
A police officer, his career peaked at the rank of Deputy Inspector-General. The incident that felled Oyakhilome from his Olympian height was his alleged complicity with Jennifer, in offering bailout to drug barons under the influence of Jennifer’s undue closeness to him. The specific banana peel upon which Oyakhilome stepped and tripped, as it were, was the case of a suspected drug baron, Gregory Odilibe, whom the NDLEA had declared wanted over drug offences. The anti-drug agency under Oyakhilome had placed a newspaper advertisement, declaring Odilibe wanted.
But before then, series of events had thrown up delicately pretty, suave and charming Jennifer as a special friend of the NDLEA boss. For instance, during Jennifer’s self-professed 31st birthday on October 22, 1990, the crème de la crème in the Nigerian society attended a bash thrown at the eyebrow Lagoon Restaurant, Victoria Island, Lagos, by Jennifer. Among top government officials attracted to the event were Oyakhilome, Health Minister, Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, and National Population Commission (NPC) chairman, Alhaji Shehu Musa. At the period, Jennifer was the president of a company called Biofrika Ventures Limited, located in Adeniyi Jones, Lagos.
An enthused Jennifer, on the occasion, wondrously courted Oyakhilome, having photo snaps with him, and it was afterwards established that most drug barons who dreaded the Oyakhilome-led NDLEA were on hand at the party. They reportedly attended the event to confirm if it was true that Jennifer was close to people in power, and by publicly carousing Oyakhilome, it was enough confirmation to them.
As for the Odilibe case, Jennifer reportedly got in touch with Linus, the fugitive’s brother and one Sam Ejiogu, his friend, assuring them that she could successfully wade into the NDLEA advertisement matter and persuade the anti-drug agency to drop charges against Odilibe. But she maintained that in doing them the ‘favour’, they had to part with a million Naira, which she would have to give to Oyakhilome and his men.
Impressed, the two men promised to get back to Jennifer. Later on, they returned to say that the Odilibe family had agreed to pay the N1 million but that they could not get it immediately and as such, would be paying in tranches. To start off, they reportedly offered Jennifer N100, 000 in N20 denomination. When further events convinced them that this socialite was indeed close to Oyakhilome, they paid another N500, 000, also in N20 denomination. Along the line, the Odilibe family members started bringing money to Jennifer in the installments of N100,000, N50,000 and N30,000, until the sums added up to N800,000, which was N200,000 short of the bargained deal.
But it was also reported that while Jennifer was collecting money from the Odilibe family, she was also making frantic telephone calls to Oyakhilome to release some arrested drug dealers believed to be connected with the run-away drug baron. She also wanted their seized vehicles released. She had hinged her request on the argument that the barons and couriers were working for certain personalities in government. When it seemed Oyakhilome would not budge, this lady then introduced another dimension. She told him that late Maryam, the wife of military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, had interest in the case. But Oyakhilome expressed doubts as to the interest of the president’s wife in the case. The ding-dong continued, culminating in Jennifer telling Oyakhilome that Babangida himself was in the know, and could remove Oyakhilome for proving stubborn, by not releasing the detained drug suspects.
With the growing pressure from Jennifer, Oyakhilome put a call across to Maryam Babangida, who distanced herself from the whole saga, saying she had never known Jennifer Madike or her drug baron fellows. At this time too, the Inspector-General of Police, Aliyu Attah called Oyakhilome, informing him that Jennifer came visiting, to tell him (Attah) that Oyakhilome might soon be removed because he could not comply with a directive from the president’s wife to let off the detained or hounded drug barons.
At that stage, to the government, the cup of Jennifer seemed full. The Vice-President was duly informed and he asked the police to probe the Jennifer involvement in the drug saga. Eventually, she was arrested at her Biofrika Ventures Limited office and detained by the police.
But shortly after her detention, Jennifer, through one Doris Obi, who claimed to be her sister, filed a suit at an Ikeja High Court in Lagos, challenging her detention. In a supporting affidavit, she deposed that her sister and Oyakhilome had a long personal and business relationship. According to her, Oyakhilome is the actual owner of Biofrika Ventures Limited and that Jennifer was only fronting for him. They were using the firm to handle major contracts for the NDLEA, she claimed. -Additional information from NationMirror
