This book provides a wide-ranging overview of the action and inaction of an insidious government that administered Abia's affairs from 2007 to 2015. Created on August 27, 1991, by General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida-led junta from part of Imo State, Abia is among the leading states in the southeast geopolitical zone. It became a constituent state of the Niger Delta region in 2000.

With over 100 oil wells and three installed flow stations that produce approximately 40,000 barrels of crude oil daily, Abia is wealthy and blessed with a cornucopia of natural resources. The state isn’t deficient in human resources as her commercial hub, Aba, nicknamed the Enyimba city, has acquired a sturdy reputation in artisanship. Umuahia, the state’s capital, defied demographic and psychographic differences to emerge as the meeting point for merchants across Nigeria, a feat made possible by the railway line that connects the serene city with other cities.

However, in a swift vicissitude of fortune, the affluence of this prosperous state suffered vast dislocation despite receiving an additional 42 oil wells. Abia fecund residents were forthwith incapacitated. They became nebbishes who survived by brown-nosing power brokers as infrastructure collapsed. Inexplicably, the state turned nondescript.

Forlornly, these misfortunes were during the period the state amassed over N500 billion in revenue, including N22 billion Paris Club Refund. Abia State should have been swimming in plenitude riches, but the government owed civil servants and pensioners a backlog of salaries and gratuities. It had no innovations or capital projects executed in the state during the period under review. Abia State was behindhand in contemporary infrastructural development. It is why her mickle domestic and external debts of N25.127 billion and $41.976 million are incomprehensible. Abia citizens were disoriented as if under the influence of a magic spell. They had to engage in different debasing chores to survive, including assembling in political jamborees to sing praises in exchange for cash and a few cups of rice without condiments. As expected, the situation exposed the once faithful women to their conqueror’s randy foot soldiers. They took advantage of their vulnerabilities and turned them into sex toys for peanuts.

It was the genesis of the heartbreaking story of once a bacciferous province, raped and enslaved. It is the narrative of a fascinating conspiratorial plot orchestrated by individuals who appeared harmless but had underhanded motives. Oblivious to their malevolent machination, the people supported their prospective captors, who inveigled themselves into their affections with sugar-coated words.

They vulnerably surrendered their territory and handed their future to authoritarians in democratic apparel. As John Quinton opines, “Politicians are people who, when they find a light at the end of the tunnel, go out and buy more tunnels,” these men were not contented with their spoils. So they conspired to enslave their captives’ children and unborn generations.

To appreciate their dilemma, we must explore the concatenation of events that made the province the victim of the trick. This 21-chapter book, divided into four sections, gives a comprehensive account of the power tussle, spiritual conquest, betrayal and deception that precipitated the rape and enslavement of Abia residents. To solve a problem, one needs to understand the root cause. Therefore, this book is a must-read for everyone with a burning desire to rescue Abia State from its captors and turn its misfortune around.

Don Norman Obinna