Gloria and Eyo both from Akwa Ibom State had been cohabiting since March 2012 before the sad incident occurred on November 3. The lady was six-month pregnant before she died.
A family source, who craved anonymity, said when he spoke to Gloria on Friday, a day before her death, she told him that all was well, adding that it was shocking to learn that she had died the next day.
The source said, “Without seeing any member of the family, that same Saturday, they hurriedly buried her.
“This is suspicious. The information we got was that she was strangled as she bled through her nose and mouth.”
Father of the deceased, Mr. Edet Akpan, 66, a retiree of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, corroborated the family source, insisting that his child was murdered.
Akpan told PUNCH Metro amid sobs, that Eyo, had in March this year asked for his daughter’s hand in marriage.
He said it was a transport operator, simply called Akintunde that brought Eyo to their home at NDLEA Compound at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
Expectedly, Akpan said during the meeting, he told Eyo to come with his people when they were ready.
Akpan said, “After that meeting, I travelled to my country home in Akwa Ibom. Since I have retired, I have been alternating between home and Lagos.
“While I was still in my hometown, my wife, Gloria’s stepmother, phoned me. She said my daughter had moved out of the house. I exclaimed, ‘move to where?’ She said she had gone to Eyo’s house.
“She also said it was Eyo’s friend, Akintunde that came to take her to the place.
“The news jolted me and I had to rush back to Lagos. When I came back, I set out to search for her whereabouts but my effort was unsuccessful as I neither knew the address of Akintunde nor Eyo’s.”
He said he later got Akintunde on the phone.
Akpan said when he called Akintunde, Eyo and Gloria were with him.
He said, “When I got Akintunde on the phone, he handed the phone over to Eyo. After quarrelling with Eyo, I asked him to pass the phone to Gloria and he did.
“Gloria told me she was well and assured me that she would come home soon. I even asked of my grandson whom she took along with her and she said he was okay.”
Akpan lamented that instead of his daughter coming back home, the news he got the following day was that she had died.
He said, “On Saturday, Akintunde and a woman, came to inform me that my daughter had died. I was confused. I took them to my elder brother’s house. My elder brother asked them to deposit her corpse in the mortuary for further action.
“The same day, I asked my son to go to Eyo’s house. My son told me that they had buried my daughter. This was done without the knowledge of any member of the family. We find the development curious. This is somebody he was not married to. That is why we believe my daughter was murdered for some sinister purposes.”
He said another reason he suspected Eyo was culpable in his daughter’s death was the account of an eyewitness, Gloria’s son, who was living with them.
Akpan said his grandson, who Gloria had for another man, told him that on the fateful day, Eyo and his mother had a disagreement resulting in Eyo pulling something out of the bed and hitting her several times before she died.
He said he headed for a nearby police station in Ikeja, Lagos where they detailed three policemen to arrest Akintunde.
He said with the aid of the policemen, Akintunde took them to Eyo’s house in Ayobo, Ogun State.
He said when they got to Ayobo, it was discovered that that the part where Eyo lives is within the jurisdiction of Ogun State Police Command.
From there, he went to Itele Police Station in Ota, Ogun State where some policemen were detailed to arrest Eyo.
He said Eyo was currently being held at Itele Police Station.
He appealed to the relevant authorities to bring the killer of his daughter to justice.
A police source at Itele Police Division said the Commissioner of Police, Ogun Command, had directed that the matter be taken to the state Criminal Investigation Department.
The source, who did not want his name mentioned, said the Divisional Crime Officer confirmed that the suspect was still being detained.
However, he said the father of the deceased had refused to show up, stressing that the suspect claimed he (Akpan) consented to the burial of his daughter.
“The matter is a murder case; the suspect is still being detained. The Commissioner of Police has directed that the matter be taken to the SCID, Abeokuta,” the source said.
Punch
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