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Tag: Widow

  • The Widow of Aguleri – By Hope Eghagha

    The Widow of Aguleri – By Hope Eghagha

    By Hope O’Rukevbe Eghagha

    Last week an obscene video of a young woman (described rather pejoratively as ‘a young childless widow) paraded naked in the streets Otuocha and Enuobodo in Aguleri community in Anambra State trended and caught the attention of the cyberworld. Though the vituperations were in Igbo language, the violent gesticulations of her traducers were enough for us to deduce anger and righteous indignation on the part of the men and women who had held the poor woman hostage. There was an atmosphere of sobriety mixed with angst and uncharitable fervour for communal vendetta, despising the laws of the land in such a despicable manner.

    One must from the outset state in clear terms a fundamental objection to extramarital affairs by married women. No law, conventional or traditional, supports a married woman having sexual relations outside marriage. Not even the family of the offending woman will support her. If a marriage is not working, they would rather you quit than remain and shame the family through adultery. Sadly, a woman who commits adultery does so with another man. The taboo does not seem to affect the man. Even in the woman caught in adultery in the bible, her co-offender is not dragged to the court of Jesus Christ! Apparently, the law which makes the woman so tabooed as to lead to her husband’s death does not affect her fellow culprit! It is a male-dominated world! Also, husbands are willy-nilly allowed to cheat on their wives in our society though both sexes who go outside marriage for sex break the marriage vows. Put plainly, society looks the other way when husbands go on the rampage with women around town!

    It was vintage barbarity, this public punishment on the ‘young widow’, made shameful the more because we are ostensibly in the 21st century, with prescribed and encoded rules of social engagement. But obviously our mindset lies in the dark arms of the Stone Age, especially in certain aspects of what some call culture. In the video, her husband’s corpse was laid on a stretcher on the floor. She was naked in a corner naked, looking forlorn, scared of what could happen to her. We do not hear her voice, her point of view, and her defence. The circumstances were shameful and tragic enough to numb her into culturally fatal docility. She was accused of causing her husband’s death through her adulterous act. Apparently, in that community, it is believed that when a married woman engages in sex outside her marriage, it will lead to the death of her husband. Another version of the story is that she poisoned her husband so that she could have the freedom to marry her okada-rider boyfriend! Of course, if she did, that was terrible, and in the words of my church minister Bro. E.M. Oki, ‘she added sin to sin!

    To be sure, there are some other ethnic groups which subscribe to this view. A married woman’s unfaithfulness, they assert, is dangerous to the well-being of the husband, the children, and the community. In some communities, just fondling any part of a married woman’s anatomy is sufficient to get her into cultural woes of a spiritual dimension. It is a belief system. Persons who subscribe to this cultural view would swear that if a man knows that his wife is messing around and takes no step to punish her, he will die, especially if he continues to eat food prepared by her or the children will fall ill and die one after the other until she confesses her sin.

    Whatever the circumstances, it was sheer wickedness and scandalous barbarity to treat a fellow human being the way the ‘young childless widow’ was traumatized. In the narrative, the addition of her ‘childless status’ was instructive, almost definitive of the depth and scope of her personal tragedy. She is no good, she is taboo because she does not have a child. It does not matter if her state of childlessness is because of her husband’s deficient reproductive equipment. Could that be why she foolishly had an extramarital affair? Did she really have a lover? Could having an extramarital affair cause the death of a husband? What informs that logic if not superstition and a fetish mindset? Why should the taboo offender stay alive while the innocent husband dies suddenly?

    The truth is that the scandal at Aguleri was disgraceful and offending to the rule of law, codes of decency, and natural justice. The matter has been taken over by the Police. Some of the persons, men, and women, boldly displayed their faces in the video because they believed that they were protecting tradition. They must be invited for questioning. There are doubts whether the Police will follow through, whether they will not be prevailed upon by the powers-that-be to allow sleeping dogs lie. This must not happen. The widow of Aguleri is a person with dignity and right to life. The mob leaders should be punished to serve as a deterrent to others. The First Lady of the State has condemned the action and called for the perpetrators of the barbaric act to be punished according to the laws of the land. I read somewhere that a group donated one million naira for her rehabilitation. We know that widows are still subjected to indignities once death occurs. From drinking the water which was used to wash the corpse to staying alone in a room with her husband’s corpse are other forms of barbaric treatment some widows suffer. This must stop. I expect women to be in the forefront of this fight.

    For the widow of Aguleri, hers was a double tragedy- loss of her husband and a terrible form of subjugation, denigrating and traumatizing her personality for life. I can bet that life will never be the same for her in that community. A relocation to a new town will help the healing process. Sadly, the trauma will remain her for the rest of her days.
    Professor Hope O. Eghagha (BA, Jos; MA; PhD, Lagos) MNAL

    Department of English

    Faculty of Arts

    University of Lagos

    Akoka Lagos

    NIGERIA

  • How police shot and killed my husband – Widow cries out

    How police shot and killed my husband – Widow cries out

    A widow, Dorothy Nnabode on Monday told the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) panel that the police shot and killed her husband in front of her.

    The NHRC independent panel is investigating alleged violations of rights by the disbanded SARS and other police units.

    Nnabode made the allegations on Monday in a petition filed by Chief Peter Ikechi and other members of Odekpe community in Anambra for alleged extra-judicial killing and death in custody.

    Respondents in the petition are CSP Danjuma Ochejeh, Delta Command, OC IGP-IRT, Force Headquarters, Abuja, FCT commissioner of police, Delta commissioner of police and Inspector General of police.

    “Sometime in June, 2020, my husband, Aboy and I were eating when four men in police uniform interrupted our meal and forced their way into our house.

    ”They shot my husband right there and he died on the spot.

    “I was pregnant then and didn’t know what to do.

    “Some villagers heard my cry and they took my husband to the mortuary,” she told the panel.

    Another witness, Caroline Chukwunwike whose husband, Peter allegedly died in police custody, said the last time she saw him was eight months ago.

    ”The last time I saw my husband, he was heading to Awka for land settlement.

    ”I tried calling him later in the day but his phone was switched off.

    ”Later, some of his kinsmen who went for the meeting returned but my husband had not returned.

    “I asked where he was and they told me that the police took him Abuja and later I was told that he was dead.

    ”I have a mother of 11,”she told the panel.

    When asked by Godwin Ijeomah, counsel for the respondents what time she was told that the husband was died, she said around June, 2020.

    She added that all efforts to ascertain what happened, failed.

    “The police never told me what killed my husband,” she said.

    Also testifying, Henry Ukwujeda, cousin to late Peter, told the panel that the corpse of the deceased was deposited at the mortuary of the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada.

    “My cousin died in police custody through the action of CSP Ochejeh.

    ”I was not there when he was killed but all I know is that he was in police custody and he died there,” he said.

    After the testimonies, a member of the panel, Garba Tentegi SAN, who presided over in the absence of the chairman, Justice Suleiman Galadima (rtd), adjourned the matter until March 24, for defence.

  • Ojukwu’s son tackles his stepmother, Bianca over comment on Biafra, Obiano

    Ojukwu’s son tackles his stepmother, Bianca over comment on Biafra, Obiano

    The son of late Ikemba Nnewi, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Emeka Jr and the father’s widow, Bianca are in war of words over Governor Willie Obiano.

    Ojukwu’s wife, Bianca, had claimed in one of the interviews she granted one of the National Dailes claimed that the late Ojukwu’ told her a lot of things concerning Biafra and Nigeria war

    Bianca said that it was not proper for APGA to name Obiano as Ojukwu’s successor, claiming that the Governor did not know the philosophy of the party despite being the governor.

    However, in a statement Thursday in Awka, Chukwuemeka Jr, claimed that his father did not tell anybody anything, adding that Bianca should stop ridiculing the name of the Igbo Icon

    Ojukwu’s son who signed the statement as APGA governorship aspirant, said respect should be accorded to Obiano as the governor of the state.

    According to him, “I find it exigent from the perspective of an insider, to present the truth so as to preserve and protect the ideals that my late father and mentor held sacred, the good name of H.E. Governor Obiano and the reputation of the Party my father bequeathed to us.

    “Given his standing by birth, heritage, disposition and calling, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu never shied away from fully expressing his feelings, observations and apprehensions.

    “Having trained first as a historian at Oxford University, I find it difficult to accept that he would resort to oral history with all the known attendant pitfalls.

    “As a matter of fact, he documented his views concerning Biafra and Nigeria in books and live interviews for ease of reference. Any attempt therefore, to recast or present his views regarding Biafra or Nigeria without proper references should be considered dead on arrival.

    “Claims therefore of what the legend told or did not tell the claimant about Biafra/Nigeria, should be regarded as the views of the said claimant, in pursuit of what, I don’t know.

    “I do not need to be tutored in the proclivities, idiosyncrasies and mannerisms of my late father. As such, I therefore, make bold to state without fear of contradiction that the Dikedioranma Ndigbo I know, never equivocated.

    “If he had something worthwhile to say on a subject, he would have stated it on record and not passed it through any intermediary.

    “Having worked for many years closely with Governor Obiano, I can, with the same level of confidence, state unequivocally, that he did not and would not make the disparaging and false statements towards my late father, attributed to him in that article.

    “Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu out of altruism and with respect to the love he had for Ndigbo, donated pro bono his identity and image to the All Progressives Grand Alliance for perpetual appropriation and usage.

    “His image remains till date, the oxygen that powers the ideals of APGA. It is therefore preposterous for somebody out there to insinuate that the APGA National Leader and Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano would contemplate and entertain discussion on disconnecting the Party from its lifeline with the claimant of all people. Where? How? When?.

    “What I see playing out is frustration occasioned by the reckless, unrestrained, disrespectful expectations of persons who take delight to pontificate on matters about which they know next to nothing.

    It is most uncharitable to opine that His Excellency Governor Willie Obiano is the leader of a party whose and I quote: “founding principles, ideology and history he knows next to nothing about,” he said.

  • “I am ashamed I don’t know my husband’s grave” – Widow tells SARS panel

    “I am ashamed I don’t know my husband’s grave” – Widow tells SARS panel

    Mrs Christisna Nnatuanya, widow of Linus Nnatuanya who allegedly died in the custody of disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), in Awkuzu, Anambra, says she is ashamed that she can’t show her seven children the grave of their father.

    Nnatuanya who testified at the Judicial Panel of Inquiry (JPI) on SARS activities in Awka on Tuesday said her husband was arrested at Ogbaru area of Anambra in January 2007 without warrant.

    She said she could not see her husband until about six days when somebody told her that police personnel arrested some people in the area.

    Christian said she later found her husband in SARS cell at Awkuzu.

    She said her deceased husband told her he was arrested on the allegation that he was a member of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).

    “The heat and stench was much and my husband was allergic to heat. So they said I should go and bring N400,000, but I did not have it. I later raised N40,000 and on getting there, they said he had been moved to Abuja.

    “It was one man by the name Ugochukwu Eze from Ebonyi who was arrested with him that told me that my husband had died in SARS cell; since then, all efforts to see him or his corpse have failed.

    “People mock me that my husband died in SARS cell and there is no grave where I can point at where he was hurried. If only they can show me where they buried him, I can take the sand home for burial,’’ she said.

    The petitioner said the panel should award compensation of N50 million to her and her children to cushion the pain of the loss and that the officers who were responsible for her husband’s death be brought to book.

    In response, SP Innocent Obi, of the Legal Department of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Anambra, said there was no record related to the matter with the Police and prayed the panel to rule that there was no infringement on the part of the Police.

    Hon. Justice Veronica Umeh, Chairman of the panel said investigation would continue on the matter.

  • The Lonely ‘World of the Widow’, By Michael West

    The Lonely ‘World of the Widow’, By Michael West

    By Michael West

    November 6, 2020

     

    When the peaceful #EndSARS protests were forcefully shut down by state governments through curfews following the rampaging activities of prodded irate youths by covert agents of the ruling and political class, not a few families suffered losses of their loved ones. Some policemen and several unarmed citizens were hacked to death either by gunshots or mob actions. These unnatural and uneventful deaths have swelled the number of widowed Nigerians in the course of the social upheaval. While ruminating over the irrecoverable losses, I came across the latest article written by Dr. Lola Akande, of English Department, University of Lagos, which I found timely in view of those who became emergency widows in the wake of the violence. On request, she mailed the touchy and lucidly crafted piece to me. While condoling with the bereaved across the country, I believe this contribution will serve as an encouragement and counselling on the way forward. It gives hope and faith to live and still be fulfilled in the morning after bereavement. Read on:

     

    In his novel, Anthills of the Savannah, Chinua Achebe offers an insight into the world of the widow: “Why will a man mounting a widow listen for footsteps outside her hut when he knows how far her man has travelled?” My immediate reaction when I came across the proverb was to close the book and surrender to convulsive sobs. I sobbed for hours until I realised there was no one to put a hand on my shoulder and say: ‘it’s okay.’ It was the most distasteful proverb I had come across. All my reproach and agony as a widow overwhelmed and filled me with futility. For a woman often touted as ‘strong’ and ‘courageous,’ I was surprised at my own fragility. I became even more astonished in the weeks that followed when I couldn’t go back to reading the novel despite the fact that I had an exam to write on it. I was overcome with an unending melancholy. Eventually, I became my own counsellor, preaching, reiterating again and again that Achebe didn’t know me; he couldn’t have deliberately intended to mock or hurt me. He was a writer using available material in his environment.

     

    Widowhood is a familiar phenomenon because death is an everyday occurrence. As you read this, thousands of people are breathing their last in varying circumstances, ushering their hitherto happy spouses into the sorrowful club of widows and widowers. Talk to a thousand widows, each has a peculiar area of pain. What one widow finds particularly agonising may be that she now has to undertake tasks that are generally regarded as ‘male tasks’ in her society, such as having to visit the office of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), taking her car to the mechanic, and sometimes, having to buy spare parts. She recalls a particularly harrowing experience in which PHCN officials visited her neighbourhood while she was at work. Because there was no one to show them her receipt of payment, the officials disconnected her line and went away with her wires. She went to their office to prove she didn’t owe. They apologised and gave her the wires. The action evoked tears of self-pity because she couldn’t immediately figure out what to do with the wires.

     

    At another time, it was her car that developed a fault on her way to work. She had to look for a mechanic and stay with him as he fixed it. While waiting, what preoccupied her mind were thoughts of how her husband would have fixed the car. Later that day, her boss called an emergency staff meeting during which he informed of an urgent assignment which would require staff to work extra hours during the week and at weekends. “In the duty roster that I will prepare,” he told them, “I will ensure that names of married women do not appear for evening and Sunday duties so as not to put married women in trouble with their husbands.” To the consternation of the widow, her name was among the first group scheduled to work that Sunday. Her anger was replaced by surprise when, upon reminding her boss of his earlier pledge, the man told her she wasn’t married. “You are a widow; who will question your movement?”

     

    For another widow, it is the poor state of her finances that worries her. She had to withdraw her children from the school they attended when her husband was alive. A step she says has done little or nothing to ameliorate the situation as the children are still being made to constantly skip meals. Not that the children complain, but their countenance and haggard appearance tell the tale of hunger, deprivation and lack. It is the knowledge of this and her inability to change the situation that haunt and traumatize her. The challenge for yet another widow is her inability to tame her children who are fast becoming irresponsible and reckless following the death of her husband who was a great disciplinarian. Each member of a once cohesive family has begun to walk their different paths. The children now go out when they like and return when they please. Sometimes, they leave home for weeks without a care because they feel it is freedom time.

     

    What about the sexual exploitation of the widow a la Achebe’s proverb? There is a tendency to assume that the widow is sexually available just because she is alone. After all, she is a free woman who is presumed to be sexually deprived or has financial difficulties and willing to exchange sex for favours. Of course, you are familiar with this and many other sorrowful aspects of the world of the widow. May be you are even among those who compound her misery. Perhaps, you have attempted to take or succeeded in taking advantage of some of them, if you are a man. If you are a woman, you are probably one of those who would boast deliberately and concoct fancy stories about your blissful marriage specifically for the attention of your widow neighbour or friend. Indeed, the widow lives in a cruel and unsympathetic world where people regularly take advantage of her misery. It is a society that castigates, labels, blames, and even punishes sometimes not for any particular wrongdoing, but simply for being in an unfortunate situation. It is worse if the widow has to live in the city where house owners don’t want widows as tenants for fear of rent default.

     

    The aim of this reflection is to encourage the woman to hold a career, acquire a skill or competence in one vocation or another even when her husband can provide sufficiently for the family. Every woman must strive to earn a decent living and contribute meaningfully to the family’s purse. For the widow, that you were not economically active or that your husband provided everything you needed while alive doesn’t mean that you are incapable of providing for your children now that he is no more. It is important for you to enhance your sense of self-worth. You must see yourself as an individual with energy, drive, intelligence, determination, and a clear sense of purpose and direction to succeed, just like everyone else. The society is also in need of behaviour change. Widows are not creators of their situation. It is immoral and sinful to degrade the widow. Render help if you can, but make it genuine, not compensation-seeking.

     

    Quote:

    “The widow lives in a cruel and unsympathetic world where people regularly take advantage of her misery. It is worse if the widow has to live in the city where house owners don’t want widows as tenants for fear of rent default.”

     

  • The World of the Widow, By Lola Akande

    The World of the Widow, By Lola Akande

    Lola Akande

     

    In his novel, Anthills of the Savannah, Chinua Achebe offers an insight into the world of the widow: “Why will a man mounting a widow listen for footsteps outside her hut when he knows how far her man has travelled?” My immediate reaction when I came across the proverb was to close the book and surrender to convulsive sobs. I sobbed for hours until I realised there was no one to put a hand on my shoulder and say: ‘it’s okay.’ It was the most distasteful proverb I had come across. All my reproach and agony as a widow overwhelmed and filled me with futility. For a woman often touted as ‘strong’ and ‘courageous,’ I was surprised at my own fragility. I became even more astonished in the weeks that followed when I couldn’t go back to reading the novel despite the fact that I had an exam to write on it. I was overcome with an unending melancholy. Eventually, I became my own counsellor, preaching, reiterating again, and again that Achebe didn’t know me; he couldn’t have deliberately intended to mock or hurt me. He was a writer using available material in his environment.

     

    Widowhood is a familiar phenomenon because death is an everyday occurrence. As you read this, thousands of people are breathing their last in varying circumstances, ushering their hitherto happy spouses into the sorrowful club of widows and widowers. Talk to a thousand widows and each has a peculiar area of pain. What one widow finds particularly agonising is that she now has to undertake tasks that are generally regarded as ‘male tasks’ in her society, such as having to visit the office of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), taking her car to the mechanic, and sometimes, having to buy spare parts. She recalls a particularly harrowing experience in which PHCN officials visited her neighbourhood while she was at work. Because there was no one to show them her receipt of payment, the officials disconnected her line and went away with her wires. She went to their office to prove she didn’t owe. They apologised and gave her the wires. The action evoked tears of self-pity because she couldn’t immediately figure out what to do with the wires.

     

    At another time, it was her car which developed a fault on her way to work. She had to look for a mechanic and stay with him as he worked. While waiting, what preoccupied her mind were thoughts of how her husband would have fixed the car. Later that day, her boss called an emergency staff meeting during which he informed of an urgent assignment which would require staff to work extra hours during the week and on weekends. “In the duty roster that I will prepare,” he told them; “I will ensure that names of married women do not appear for evening and Sunday duties so as not to put married women in trouble with their husband.” To the consternation of the widow, her name was among the first group scheduled to work that Sunday. Her anger was replaced by surprise when, upon reminding her boss of his earlier pledge, the man told her she wasn’t married. “You are a widow; who will question your movement?”

     

    For another widow, it is the poor state of her finances that worries her. She has had to withdraw her children from the school they attended when her husband was alive. A step she says has done little or nothing to ameliorate their situation as the children are still being made to constantly skip meals. Not that the children complain, but their eyes and haggard appearance tell the tale of hunger, deprivation, and lack. It is the knowledge of this and her inability to change the situation that haunt and traumatize her. The challenge for yet another widow is her inability to tame her children who are fast becoming irresponsible and reckless following the death of her husband who was a great disciplinarian. Each member of a once cohesive family has begun to walk their different paths. The children now go out when they like and return when they please. Sometimes, they leave home for weeks without a care because they feel it is freedom time.

     

    What about the sexual exploitation of the widow a la Achebe’s proverb? There is a tendency to assume that the widow is sexually available just because she is alone. After all, she is a free woman who is presumed to be sexually deprived or has financial difficulties and willing to exchange sex for favours. Of course you are familiar with this and many other sorrowful aspects of the world of the widow. May be you are even among those who compound her misery. Perhaps, you have attempted to take or succeeded in taking advantage of some of them, if you are a man. If you are a woman, you are probably one of those who would boast deliberately and concoct fancy stories about your blissful marriage specifically for the attention of your widow neighbour or friend. Indeed, the widow lives in a cruel and unsympathetic world where people regularly take advantage of her misery. It is a society that castigates, labels, blames, and even punishes sometimes not for any particular wrongdoing, but simply for being in an unfortunate situation. It is worse if the widow has to live in the city where house owners don’t want widows as tenants for fear of rent default.

     

    The aim of this reflection is to encourage the woman to hold a career, acquire a skill or competence in one vocation or another even when her husband can provide sufficiently for the family. Every woman must strive to earn a decent living and contribute meaningfully to the family’s purse. For the widow, that you were not economically active or that your husband provided everything you needed while alive doesn’t mean that you are incapable of providing for your children now that he is no more. It is important for you to enhance your sense of self-worth. You must see yourself as an individual with energy, drive, intelligence, determination, and a clear sense of purpose and direction to succeed, just like everyone else. The society is also in need of behaviour change. Widows are not creators of their situation. It is immoral and sinful to degrade the widow. Render help if you can, but make it genuine, not compensation-seeking.

     

  • I’m crying, missing my husband, says Ajimobi’s widow

    I’m crying, missing my husband, says Ajimobi’s widow

    The widow of late former Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, Florence, has described her late husband as her greatest supporter and strength.

    She spoke while playing host to a delegation of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Oyo State on Saturday evening at her Oluyole residence in Ibadan.

    Ajimobi also counseled Nigerians to use the opportunity of her husband’s death to review their lives.

    She expressed confidence that her husband lived a fulfilled life, saying she would forever be proud of him.

    “My husband lived 70 years. 70 years of fulfilment, achievements and impact on many lives. Forever, I will be proud of him. I called him my hero. He is my hero and will forever be my hero.

    “For me, he is never late and we shall live forever. He is a man I love, cherish, and will forever be in my heart.

    “I don’t want to behave like an unbeliever because I know nothing happens without God’s input. We are all here one day and we are all going back one day.

    “Nobody knows when death is going to come. I believe so much in destiny and I believe my husband’s time was up. He lived a fulfilled life.

    “I am crying because I missed him. I missed everything about him. I miss his love, his advice. Having him around me was my strength. He was my greatest supporter.

    “He thinks I am a strong woman but this time, I tell you I am not a strong woman. He used to give me all the strength I needed as a woman,

    “So when I cried, not because he hasn’t achieved much, but because I missed so much about him,” she said.

    She expressed the belief that her late husband made heaven, adding that it was her greatest consolation.

  • Tragic! Widow plucks out 73-year-old man’s eyes in Enugu

    Chief Oforbuike Ani, a native of Amodu Akunanaw in the Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State, died after a widow allegedly plucked out his eyes.

    The 38-year-old widow and mother of five, identified as Blessing Nwatu, was alleged to have hit the old man with a brick, where he was sitting in his compound on February 21, 2020.

    After the casualty had fallen down, Nwatu allegedly used a knife to pluck out his eyes and left him in a pool of his own blood.

    It was gathered that neighbours, who got wind of the incident, called one of Ani’s sons living in Enugu, the state capital, who came and took him to hospital, where he died on February 28.

    One of the sons of the deceased, Barry said that his father’s killing hit him like a thunderbolt. He stated, “On February 21, 2020, I received a call from my father’s best friend that I should come home immediately because my father was seriously ill. I thought maybe it was his usual illness. So, I rushed home.

    “While on my way to the village, I started receiving calls that I should come home because a woman used a knife to pluck out my father’s eyes.

    “When I got home, I saw my father lying down in a pool of blood in the compound with his two eyes plucked out. I asked a woman I saw in the neighbourhood where the perpetrator was, but she advised that I should take my father to hospital first. I took her advice and rushed my father to the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku-Ozalla.

    “I met a doctor at the Emergency Unit and he asked me what happened to my father; I could not tell him much, because I didn’t have the details and he told me to get a police report before the hospital would start treatment”, he told Punch.

    Daniel Ndukwe, the state Police Public Relations Officer said the perpetrator had been arrested and was charged on Friday. Ndukwe also added that she has been remanded in a correctional centre.

  • Sad! Man dies in Anambra hotel during sex with widow

    A man yet to be identified has allegedly died in a hotel in Onitsha, Anambra State, while having sex with a widow.

    According to reports, the man checked in with a lady at about 5pm on Thursday, but not quite 30 minutes later, he started shouting for help, holding his chest.

    The hotel management reportedly took him to hospital but he passed on before reaching there.

    Haruna Mohammed, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, confirmed the sad occurrence in a statement.

    Mohammed said,” He was a middle-aged man and allegedly took a lady whose identity has yet been known to the hotel. After about 35 minutes, the manager heard someone shouting for help and holding his chest.

    “The victim was immediately rushed to the hospital for medical attention but certified dead by a doctor on duty. The scene was visited by police detectives attached to CPS Onitsha and photograph of the victim obtained.

    “No mark of violence was on the deceased’s body. The corpse has been deposited at the Boromeo hospital for autopsy while investigation is ongoing to ascertain circumstances surrounding the incident.”

  • Police arrest Inspector for alleged murder of widow in Akwa Ibom

    Police arrest Inspector for alleged murder of widow in Akwa Ibom

    The Commissioner of Police in Akwa Ibom state, Imohimi Edgal, has ordered the arrest of a Police Inspector attached to the state police command, Bassey Ikpe, for allegedly killing a widow. Mr Odiko Macdon, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen in Uyo, on Wednesday.

    He said that the police commissioner had instructed the Deputy Commissioner, State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID) to carry out thorough investigation into the matter. Macdon reiterated the command’s commitment to policing, with great deal of respect for human rights.

    The PPRO said that the decision of the police to finally look into the alleged murder was informed by the reports in some dailies and online media in the state.

    “The attention of the Akwa Ibom State Police Command has been drawn to publications in some dailies and online media to the effect that a police officer attached to the state police command, one Insp. Bassey Ikpe, reportedly beat one Mrs Deborah Nkpenie to death, on Jan. 16.

    “To authenticate this serious allegation, CP Imohimi Edgal, the state Commissioner of Police, has ordered the immediate arrest of the said inspector,” Macdon said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that an eyewitness, who craved for anonymity, said that the incident took place in the morning of Jan. 16, following the invitation of the deceased by the policeman, who was an Investigating Police Officer (IPO) in an ongoing case.

    Another eye witness, Mrs Mfonobong Peter, a sister to the deceased, also explained that the said police man, who is the IPO in an ongoing matter, had personally entered the bedroom of the deceased to forcefully dress her up. She said that the IPO went wild with the allegation that the deceased was lying about her state of health in order to escape being arraigned in court. “My late sister was beaten to death by Insp. Bassey Ikpe.

    He had threatened her repeatedly since this matter came up. “My sister had waist pains arising from the dislocation she had while caring for her late husband. This made it difficult for her to move about freely. “She had become almost bedridden because of the difficulty in movement. She was highly hypertensive due to the health complications that led to her husband’s death. “But this police man refused to heed the advice of the Deputy Commissioner of Police.

    I don’t know what personal interest he had in the matter. “He had forced her to come to the police station so that they could appear in court on a fictitious criminal charge, against the advice of the deputy commissioner of police the previous day. He beat my sister to death,” she alleged. NAN also reports that the sister and the brother of the late husband took the deceased to the police over her late husband’s property.