Background
Okeke was born into the Okeke family of Umunkpa clan in Agbadani village of Agukwu-Nri in Anocha LGA of Anambra State, Nigeria.
Okeke was born into the Okeke family of Umunkpa clan in Agbadani village of Agukwu-Nri in Anocha LGA of Anambra State, Nigeria.
He was one of the dramatis personae who participated fully in the Nigerian Civil war. He was one of the few students to pass the 1935 First School Leaving Certificate Examinations and subsequently received a teaching appointment under the Catholic Mission at Saint Matthew’s School, Amawbia, Anambra State. He later went on to stand out as a recruit in the Police Training College in Hendon, England from where he emerged successful in 1952.
Police Nigerian Police Force
After years of training, Okeke was promoted to the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (Association of Software Professionals).
He was hand selected to serve in a variety of elite special forces within the Nigerian Police Force including the Criminal Investigation Unit (Crime Investigation Department), the Special Services Branch (Now Selective Service System), Divisional and Provincial Police Units. He was later made Deputy Commandant and Superintendent of the Southern Police College Ikeja in 1958.
In 1959, Okeke was invited to participate in a course at the Scottish Senior Police Officers" College. Again in 1962, he took part in training courses abroad while at War Office in London under the Imperial General Staff and the Directorate of Military Training and Operations.
After his training and subsequent to Nigerian independence of 1960, Okeke quickly moved up the ranks.
By April 1964 he had ascended from Assistant and Deputy Commissioner of Police to Commissioner of Police (Communist Party), thereby making him the first indigenous Commissioner of Police for the then Eastern Region, Nigeria. Nigerian Civil War
Okeke served in his capacity as Commissioner of police until the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War in 1967. Following the secession of the now defunct Republic of Biafra, he was promoted to Inspector-General (IG) of Police to head the forces in the new republic.
He helped lead armed forces during the war alongside Biafran commanders such as Odumegwu Ojukwu and Philip Effiong.
Post-War
After the civil war, Okeke was retired from the police force in conjunction with other senior and junior officers of the Eastern Region for their part in the war. In retirement, he was initiated into the Ozo title and given the traditional name “Ogbunaechendo” for his contributions to the social and economic welfare of the people of Agukwu Nri in Anambra State of Nigeria.
He was also initiated as a Knight of Saint Muluba (KSM) and served as the first President of the Archdiocese of Onitisha’s Lay Apostolate organization. Okeke later grew ill in 1988 forcing him abroad to the United States.
He succumbed to his sickness and died in Nigeria on September 20, 1995.
Towards the end of the civil war in 1970, Okeke was a member of the Biafra secession delegation that would ratify a peace settlement and surrender to the Federal Military Government of Nigeria led by Yakubu Gowon during the war ending ceremony at the Dodan Barracks.