Fury of a woman scorned: The story of Akinyi and Chinedu

The biggest news out of Kenya this past week has been all about Anthony Chinedu, the controversial Nigerian who was bundled into a plane out of Kenya by state agents a few weeks ago, and who claims to be holding the Kenyan team at ransom in Lagos until he is compensated for his investments in Kenya.

Whichever way you look at it, there is something inscrutable about this flamboyant man who has been in and out of local headlines for almost seven years now.

Chinedu, who has been in the country for the past 15 years, shot into the limelight as a wealthy but esoteric tycoon embroiled in a bitter battle for property running into hundreds of millions of shillings with his estranged Kenyan wife, Joyce Akinyi, in 2008.

After a series of arrests and court appearances, the government seems to have had enough of him and decided to escort him out of the country. But none of the local commercial airlines would have him aboard their craft, so the government, adamant that the suspected drug dealer must leave Kenyan soil, decided to charter a plane to Lagos.

Prevented from leaving

All was well until they touched down at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. As soon as Chinedu stepped out and disappeared into the crowd, authorities at the airport prevented the Kenyan delegation, the East African Safari Express plane, and its crew from leaving Nigeria, demanding that the Kenyans go back with Chinedu along with two other Nigerians — Christopher Nnanyelu and Oluwatosin Adebiyi — who had also been deported.

Speaking on the phone from Nigeria, Chinedu told this newspaper that all he wants before releasing the Kenyan delegation from his “custody” — he claims the plane is now his — is state compensation for the “massive investments” he was forced to leave behind.

In a statement that suggested he had the full protection of the Nigerian authorities, he boasted, in his trademark Nigerian drawl: “Arrest a mad person then you will realise that he has a mother and father.”

This, though, is not the first time that the Kenyan government has wanted the man out. Otieno Kajwang’, during his tenure at the helm of the Ministry of Immigration, unsuccessfully tried to deport him but encountered bottleneck after bottleneck.

However, the walls started caving in on the Nigerian in April this year when he was arrested and charged with being in possession of 10 grammes of a narcotic substance. As his case dragged on in court, President Uhuru Kenyatta, announcing a no-nonsense approach by his government to narcotics, ordered the deportation of all foreigners suspected of engaging in drug trafficking.

Chinedu had to go.

Those stuck in Nigeria include Captain Tim Kavingo and his colleagues, flight engineer Alaka Ochieng’ and flight attendants George Kamau and Ismail Adan. First officer Rokshanker Masoud, a Swede, is also affected. The government officials who escorted the deportees were Mr Barasa Okosa, Mr Kariuki Ngugi, Mr Mungathia Muriira, Mr Pardala Dipason, Mr Kivuva Muthama, Mr Andrew Kambi, and Mr Mutinda Kakindu.

As the “detainees” start their third week in Lagos, where they are holed up in a hotel after spending the first night in their plane, the Kenyan government has refused to negotiate with Chinedu for their release. Foreign Affairs Secretary Amina Mohammed says Nairobi is instead consulting with the Nigerian government for the release of the Kenyans.

As the saga — dubbed on social media networks as another riveting episode of Afrocinema — unfolds, many cannot understand the temerity of this man Chinedu, the man who has the gall to take hostage a government crew and its plane. What position does he hold, in Nigeria and elsewhere, that he can create a diplomatic headache for Kenya, many wonder.

To answer those questions, we sought Chinedu’s biggest nemesis, the equally flamboyant, if not controversial, former Budalang’i MP Raphael Wanjala, who now claims Chinedu’s estranged wife, Akinyi, as his wife.

In a phone interview, Wanjala told this writer that by deciding to deport Chinedu, the government was finally flexing its muscle to protect the interests of its citizens, but lamented that Kenya “lacks strict rules” concerning the conduct of immigrants.

“If you went to Uganda and caused an accident,” Wanjala said, “you would be charged as a foreigner because the accident would not have occurred if you were not there.”

The former MP said anyone who poses a threat to the wellbeing of Kenyans should be “dealt with accordingly”.

But Chinedu says he is just a scapegoat in a well-orchestrated scheme to disenfranchise him of his Kenyan investments, arguing that the plot to have him deported was drawn up by Akinyi so that she, together with Wanjala, can take over his property and other investments.

Things have been quite rocky for the couple that, in the months leading to their acrimonious break-up just three years after their marriage, played out an embarrassing tragicomedy of love gone sour. At one point, Akinyi referred to Chinedu as a “drug lord wanted in Pakistan” and warned him that he would eventually go.

The dates remain sketchy

“Even (the) Artur Brothers went,” she thundered in front of TV cameras, “You will go.” The Artur Brothers she alluded to were two suspected Armenian mercenaries whose activities infuriated Kenyans in early 2006 before they were deported in mysterious circumstances.

But it has not always been sour for the couple. A few years after stepping into the country — the actual dates remain sketchy — Chinedu met and fell in love with Akinyi, and together the two had two children before they got married. In 2004, they decided to formalise their union at the Attorney General’s chambers, followed by a brief ceremony to celebrated their marriage.

With their papers in order and their children out of diapers, the couple embarked on an investment spree, starting with two mansions in Jacaranda and the buyout of the popular Deepwest restaurant off Nairobi’s Lang’ata Road, which they renovated and re-opened in December 2005.

With their finances in order and their marriage seemingly built on the right foundation, they moved to a mansion in Lavington later that year and started to build another eight townhouses in the same neighbourhood, each valued at Sh18 million.

Chinedu moved to court

However, the hitherto strong foundation of their union started to crumple in public when Chinedu moved to court seeking to divorce Akinyi, citing cruelty, adultery, and desertion of their marital home.

In the suit, Chinedu accused MP Raphael Wanjala of flirting with his estranged wife and annexing his Sh300 million property.

Wanjala denied the claims but was caught on camera leaving a city hotel after meeting Akinyi. There was fury, a few blows... and a period of silence.

Then, in October 2008, Wanjala and Akinyi were arrested at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Airport on allegations that they were part of a money laundering racket. Police found the equivalent of Sh7.5 million in US dollars on them. India requires one to declare amounts of money above Sh375,000. There was no way they were going to run away from this. Akinyi was back in the news again.

What made matters even worse for them was that when they tried to feed the details on Akinyi’s travelling documents into their prison computers, they did not match those supplied by Kenyan authorities, raising suspicion that she was travelling as an alias.
After further investigation, police in New Delhi established that Akinyi and Wanjala had left Kenya through Uganda and flown into India from Dubai aboard an Emirates flight, and that Akinyi indeed was using a passport bearing another name.

This once again landed her in trouble. After a month’s stay in prison, the Indian authorities cancelled bail granted to them and took them back to Tihar Prison, India’s second largest jail, where they stayed for another five months before Nairobi intervened.

Wanjala, suddenly thrust into the limelight, stepped out of the shadows and declared his love for Akinyi. The courts had no option but to grant Chinedu his prayers, and Akinyi went straight into Wanjala’s arms.

Back in Kenya, Chinedu was having a ball. He had seen an opportunity to have full custody of their two children and, as the two cooled their heels in Tihar, he went to court, arguing that there was no one to look after the children who, he went on, were being mistreated by the house help.

Chinedu said he had visited his children in school and found them in bad physical and mental health. His son looked depressed and, after inquiry, he found out that the two had been staying alone with the house help for a month.

He was granted custody of the children on condition that he deposit his passport and those of the two children in court. This was meant to bar him from fleeing from Kenya once he had the children while their mother struggled to extricate herself from prison.

Then, again, all went quiet... until Akinyi stepped back on home soil and went straight to her estranged husband’s house, where she caused an overnight drama. In the presence of cameras, Akinyi blamed Chinedu for her tribulations in India and further accused him of leasing out Deepwest to a local investor.

“Akinyi has been my wife for 10 years and during the period, we accumulated property with her,” Chinedu said at the time. “There is no problem in sharing it.”

A two-hour search

But Akinyi was not going to have “her property” divided: “Chinedu has been celebrating because I was away,” she retorted. “He took over my property when I was in India but now that I am back, he must vacate.” As the fight between the two raged, police officers from various units stormed the premise and conducted a raid in an apparent search for contraband goods. After a two-hour search, police towed away two vehicles parked in the compound whose registration numbers they suspected were not genuine.

Then all, again, went quiet... until Akinyi, now in full custody of their two children, went to court accusing Chinedu of failing to provide for their school fees, electricity, rent, medical expenses, water bills, and other necessities. Chinedu replied that he had been denied access to the children but was still willing to provide for them.

However, even with the court ruling that Chinedu deposit Sh70,000 into Akinyi’s bank account before the fifth day of every month, Akinyi claimed that this had not happened. Now the man is out of her reach.