Detectives at the Criminal Investigation Department, CID,
Panti, Lagos, are currently investigate the mystery surround the death a woman, Obiageli Anajekwu, that was alleged to have been battered by her husband,
Ikechukwu Anajekwu on January 19, 2015 at their residence, 7 Okoye Street, Iba
Estate, Ojo, Lagos. Excerpt…
Pleading his innocence, the accused, Ikechukwu Anajekwu,
54, lamented that:
“I reported the matter to her people and told them that I
am no longer interested in the marriage. I made it official in December and
returned to Lagos. I was surprised when on January 19, she came knocking at my
door,” Ikechukwu narrated.
“I was already terrified when I discovered that she is
the one behind my ordeal in Lagos. When I opened my gate and saw her, I shut it
against her. I later drove out with my friend who came visiting. When I
returned at about 11pm, I saw her still standing at the gate. She prevented me
from entering the premises. I only dragged her out of my way and closed the
gate. I received a call from my kinsman, Okonkwo, the next day that he wanted
to discuss business with me. I came and was disgusted when I realised that it
was because of Obiageli. He pleaded that I should accept her back and I told
him that I am not interested.
She was looking beautiful as usual and very healthy. I
was surprised when Okonkwo called me on Wednesday that she was dead. I know
they killed her and not me, I can swear with my life. I was committed to the
marriage, although she did not have a child. I have even taken her to several
doctors just to show that I am committed to the marriage, but she is a witch,”
Ikechukwu further said.
“They killed my wife and turned around to accuse me. I know that the autopsy
will surely expose what happened to her. I have never touched her despite all
the bad things that she did to me in the past. If she was wounded or battered,
then she must have sustained the wounds during her trip to her friend’s house.
I have a hard face but I am the most innocent man on earth”, he pleaded.
I only helped a friend –Suspect.
Also interrogated is Obiageli’s friend, Chinyere Onyali Mbaukwu. Her words:
“On January 20, 2015, my friend, the late Obiageli came
to my house at about 1am in the night, looking battered with swollen eyes. I
asked her what the problem was and she said that she was battered by her
husband. I was shocked because I have never heard her complain that there was
any problem. To be on a safe side, I asked her to report the matter to Adolf
police station which she did.
“It was then that she narrated all the hell she has been going through in her
husband’s house because she has no child. I told her to go back to the village
but she insisted that she was in love with her husband and will stop at nothing
to be reconciled with him,” Chinyere narrated.
“The next day we
contacted one of their kinsmen known as Okonkwo. He was the one who mediated
but her husband bluntly refused that he didn’t want to have anything to do with
her again.
“On the third day being 21st, I returned home and saw her on the floor. She was
convulsing and we kept praying for her while I searched frantically for a
vehicle that could convey her to the nearest hospital. When we finally got one,
she was no longer moving her body. We took her to the hospital where the doctor
confirmed that she was dead.
“She was my friend and we met two years ago. I do not have any reason to kill
her, I only accepted her because she is my friend. I even advised her to go to
the church the next day but she refused. I was worried because she was looking
bad that night. She told me that her husband was deported from Brazil for an
alleged drug related crime.”
According to their neighbours ,
“She was a peaceful person and have never heard her
voice outside. Maybe since their fence is very high, it is possible that the
man had been beating her silently. I was told that she had gone back to the
village because of irreconcilable differences which came to me as a surprise.
Oga Ik, is a peace loving man,” a man who identified himself as Steve, said.
“I am a woman and
cannot lie because I know the consequence. She was always coming to my shop
with swollen eyes to complain and I told her to return to the village. I was
surprised when I learnt that she was dead. I was much more shocked when I was
told that she died in Lagos after her husband battered her. I won’t be
surprised if you see holes all over her head, that woman has suffered in the
name of marriage”, another neighbor said.
Confirming the incident, Lagos State Police Public
Relations Officer, Kenneth Nwosu said investigation was ongoing to ascertain
the true cause of death. He, however, advised couples to shun domestic violence
as the aftermath is always disastrous.
