• Deceased’s husband seeks help, alleges foul play, cover up by police
From Jude Chinedu, Enugu
The six children of Ukamaka Chukwuka who was shot dead during a gun battle between the police and armed hoodlums in Enugu metropolis on May 11, 2024 have yet to come to terms with the death of their mother.
Every night, while holding hands together, they pray to God to bring back their mother. Their helpless father often joined in chorusing ‘Amen’ even when he knows that their mother, his wife, would never come back alive again.
When Saturday Sun visited Amawusa, an urban slum located at the heart of Obiagu in Enugu North local Government Area, the children were seen, sweaty and bare-shirted while playing with other kids. The only one that sat alone was 14-year-old Ifeoma Chukwuka, the woman’s first daughter who has now assumed the role of a mother.
For Ifeoma, there was still the possibility that their mother was not dead and that she would one day return to continue taking care of them. “Our mother was coming back from work. When they started shooting. She went and hid inside a gutter. While she was hiding there, policemen came and shot her dead,” she narrated.
“We are missing her and we are praying everyday for her to come back. She loves us so much. She was the one who was cooking for us. I only cook some of the time. But now I’m the one cooking everyday.
“My siblings have been asking me when our mother will return. I always tell them that she will soon be back. I have stopped going to school so that I can be taking care of my siblings and cooking for them.” She pleaded that government should come to their aid.
For Obinna Chukwuka, the tragic loss of his wife is already taking a huge toll on him. He noted also that he was now suspecting some foul play by the police. According to him, the investigating police officer (IPO) handling the case had on one of his visits to the Ogui Police Station, ordered him to obtain an affidavit indicating that he would not take the police to court if they release the corpse of his wife to him.
Chukwuka now believes that the demand by the police was an indication that there are details the police might be hiding. He said some eyewitnesses had told him that his wife was hiding in a gutter where the incident happened when she was approached by policemen who rained several bullets on her until she died.
He said that his suspicion was made even stronger as the mortician who is preserving the wife’s remains told him that he removed many bullets from his wife’s body and that the bullets have been handed over to the police. He said he paid the sun of N20,000 for the stitching of the bullet piercings on his wife’s body.
“I went to the police on Tuesday to see how I will recover the corpse of my wife. When I met the IPO, he requested that I must go to the court and swear to an affidavit that I will not sue the police for the death of my wife before I would be given a tally and police report with which I could retrieve the corpse from the morgue.
“I’ve not been able to see the corpse of my wife. My question is, why are they still holding on to the body of someone they said was killed by armed robbers? I begin to wonder what is actually going on. My wife is not a criminal; she did not do anything. She was coming back from work for me and my children. I am surprised that the police are telling me this kind of thing.
Obiageli Ezugwu is one of her neighbours. She described the late Ukamaka as a very peaceful woman who did the much she could do to fend for her family.
“These children are still very tender. Of the six of them, three will not be able to recall their mother in the future. I see it as the will of God. It was recently that she started this job. It’s not been up to three months since she started. And I told her that she returns late but she said it was the nature of the job.
“I am dumbfounded. Her mother died recently and she is still mourning her mother. No one expected her death. She only went to work and she is now in the mortuary. I plead with the government to help these children.”
Recalling how he got to know about the sudden death of his wife, Chukwuka told the reporter: “My wife usually gets home around 9 pm. On that day, I waited for her till it was 10 pm. So I decided to trace her.”
His search, he said, led him to the car wash at Nkpokiti junction, where he was met with a scene of chaos.
Said he: “I saw so many policemen. One of the policemen stopped and asked where I was going. I told him that I was looking for my wife. She hasn’t returned home. He ordered me to go back.
“When I got home, I couldn’t sleep until morning because I didn’t understand what was happening. My wife has never slept outside. So it was strange.
“I got to the same spot in the morning and saw many cars, tricycles, and mini buses. So many people were there too. I asked someone and he said that there was a shooting there last night. I rushed to the place and immediately saw my wife’s cap and her slippers inside the gutter,” he said.
“I cried my eyes out there. Someone there offered to assist me to locate her. We went to the state CID where we were directed to Ogui Road Police Station. When we got there, there were so many people. They acknowledged the incident and directed me to Eastern Medical Centre. They brought out the corpse of my wife.
“They told me to pay so that they could stitch the places where bullets had penetrated my wife. They said that they would stitch the wound but that each stitch point would cost N3,000. I paid N20,000 and the mortician said I would still have to pay an extra N5,000 This means that my wife was not shot once. She was shot several times.”
Since that tragic night, Obinna has been left to pick up the pieces of his shattered life. “I am only a cut and join carpenter,” he told the reporter. “It’s like my wife is the breadwinner. We have six kids, two girls and four boys.
“What I need now is help. These children are all in school, and with what has happened, they may not be able to continue. If there is a way the government can help me with work so that I can be getting something with which I can be taking care of their needs, I will be grateful. I need help seriously. We plead for help from the government and from individuals,” he said.