Juliana Francis
IGP, Baba
Homicide detectives
attached to the Lagos State Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Department
(SCIID), Panti, Yaba, have been advised to do everything within the ambit of
the law to uncover how Eucharia, 55, died in her husband’s apartment and her
corpse found on a mattress soaked with blood.
The deceased family
members are, however, blaming Eucharia's death on her husband, Ignatius, who
they said was fond of using her as his punching bag.
The family members
came to the conclusion after allegedly discovering there were signs that
someone had hastily tried to clean the blood where Eucharia’s body was found
and noticed signs of violence on her remains. As if to confirm their suspicion,
Ignatius was said to have fled, before his eventual arrest by policemen.
The Executive Director
of Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), Mr. Okechukwu
Nwanguma, has joined Mr. Ohams Chinedu, a human rights investigation officer,
working with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), to demand an
investigation into the woman' suspicious death.
Nwanguma said the case
was “shocking and disturbing”.
He added that it was a
case of how the deceased, a female victim of perennial domestic violence, died
in suspicious circumstances in Lagos State.
Nwanguma disclosed
that the deceased had been married for over 21 years to her husband and had two
children for him.
He said: “Eucharia had
until she died on April 28, 2021, in the same house where she lived with her
husband, suffered persistent verbal abuses and physical violence in the hands
of her abusive and physically violent husband.
"She was a petty
trader, who hustled and toiled daily for her own survival, having been
neglected and abandoned by her husband. She was well known by fellow women in
her neighbourhood as a victim of perennial domestic violence. On many
occasions, she had to run to the homes of some of her neighbours to take refuge
for days when she came under one of several deadly assaults by her husband.”
It was further said
that Eucharia had on several occasions, reported violent assault by her husband
to the police and had been hospitalised several times after being pummeled and
severely injured to a near point of death.
In a petition dated
May 28, 2021, Mr. Romeo Ozoagu and Chief Hillary Ozoagu, brothers to Eucharia
and addressed to the NHRC, narrated how their in-law woke Romeo up with a phone
call about 7.30am on April 28, telling him that their sister, his wife, was
dead. The in-law further explained that he didn’t know anything about her
death.
Explaining to Romeo
the circumstances of Eucharia's death, Ignatius said it was raining heavily at
night, and he had gone to Eucharia’s room to check if the windows were closed.
He called out to her
repeatedly, but she didn’t respond. It was dark so he went and fetched a lamp,
and then pushed her body and found that she was motionless. Ignatius said he
cried out and then called three other friends and kinsmen, including Mr.
Kingsley Akpata, Eucharia’s kinsmen in Lagos. The men arrived at his residence
a few minutes before 5am and Ignatius again, narrated the same story.
Nwanguma said:
“Akpata, on examining the body of Eucharia, found that she had bruises and
swelling on her face, neck and other parts of her body. The mattress was also
soaked with blood. He quickly took Ignatius to City of David Hospital in Festac
Town where they met a doctor who accompanied them to the residence to examine
the body. On examination, the doctor confirmed that Eucharia had died
about 48 hours earlier.
"She was lying in
a pool of her own blood and the mattress was soaked with blood. There were also
signs of physical assault and an attempt was made previously to clean up the
blood.”
Ignatius would later
deposit Eucharia’s remains at the mortuary, and when two of his in-laws showed
up and asked to be taken to the mortuary to see their sister’s corpse, Ignatius
allegedly refused. He told them that they couldn’t see the dead until after two
weeks.
Hillary, one of
Eucharia’s brothers, reported the suspicious death of their sister and the
equally suspicious behaviour of their in-law at the Festac Police Station, and
then later at the Festac Area Command.
The Area Commander
ordered for the arrest of Ignatius, but when police got to the residence, he
allegedly refused to open the door. The Area Commander then ordered the police
officers to break in and arrest him. Ignatius, however, was said to have scaled
the fence from the back of his house and escaped.
Hillary then went to
the SCIID, Panti, Yaba, requesting that his fugitive in-law should be tracked.
Police tracked Ignatius to Ogun State, from there to Enugu State.
“When Ignatius got
wind that he was being trailed, he called Hillary and told him he had been
advised by his friends to meet with his in-laws and negotiate a settlement.
They agreed to meet at Hillary’s residence in Lagos. Hillary, however, alerted
the police investigators at Panti who laid siege and arrested Ignatius just as
he was making his way to Hillary’s house."
When Hillary
questioned Ignatius in the presence of the investigating police officers why he
was cleaning up the blood on the mattress, he asked him in turn, “why are you
digging into this?”
Nwanguma noted: “Why
has Ignatius refused to allow his in-laws to see their deceased sister's body?
Why has he also ordered his children not to go to see their mother's body in
the morgue? Why is he also refusing to allow an autopsy to be conducted on the
body of his deceased’s wife to ascertain the actual circumstances and cause of
death?
"The actions of
Ignatius are suspicious and clearly point to one direction; there's something
he's hiding. He knows more than he has revealed about the cause of his wife's
death and he has more explanations to make to the police, his in-laws and to
the public.
"We call on all
women rights groups and indeed all promoters and defenders of human rights to
join the fight for justice for Eucharia.”
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