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Fate was very cruel to 24-year-old Augusta Chizoba
Ndukwu of Umufu-Amaimo, Ikeduru Local Government area of Imo State. She was
gruesomely murdered by unknown persons at Upper Iweka area of the commercial
city of Onitsha, Anambra State. It was quite sad that Augusta, who had survived
a series of hostilities and bombings by the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram,
in Adamawa State, where she observed her one-year mandatory national youth
service, would painfully meet her untimely death in a place she felt was her
home.
Her voice was filled with joy when she spoke to her
relatives in Owerri on phone, telling them that she had finally come home. She
told them that she was at the luxurious park in Upper Iweka, informing them
also that she would join them in Owerri the next morning. But she never lived
to see the faces of her loved ones, as she was gruesomely murdered by unknown
persons that fateful night. Daily Sun gathered that the deceased, a graduate of
Banking and Finance from the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Imo State, was found
lying in the pool of her own blood at the notorious fly-over at Upper Iweka on
September 12.
According to a family member and the Vice Chairman
of Nigeria Union of Journalists, (NUJ) Imo State Council, Chief Chris
Akaraonye, Chizoba left Yola, the capital of Adamawa State on September 11
where she was having her NYSC primary assignment. She was travelling to Onitsha
en route Owerri but could not get to her final destination that time because it
was already late.
Chief Akaraonye further said the deceased, who had
boarded a luxurious bus belonging to a popular transport company (names
withheld), called her relatives to inform them that she could not make it again
to Owerri. She also informed them that she had decided to pass the night at the
company’s motor park together with other passengers. However, according to him,
the following day, the family of the deceased, including her fiancé, waited in
anxiety for the arrival of Chizoba in Owerri but to no avail. They then started
trying her mobile line, but it had been switched off.
“At first, we thought she had a low battery. But
after waiting for almost the whole day, we realized it was not usual and we
decided to make moves to know why somebody that spoke to us at 10 pm last night
could not be reached on phone or could not get to Owerri. In the course of our
doubts and fears, we started going through different police stations and
Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) formations along the Onitsha-Owerri Road
to ascertain if she was involved in a motor accident.
It was when we came to Onitsha that we found her
corpse at the Onitsha General Mortuary with gunshot wounds to her chest.” In
the next morning, early passersby were shocked to their marrow when they beheld
the gory sight of a lady lying in the pool of her own blood at the Upper Iweka
axis with two travelling bags filled with children clothing and popcorn. One of
the eyewitnesses who pleaded anonymity said that the deceased was a victim of
ritual killers.
She confirmed that she was found lying at the Upper
Iweka flyover with gunshot wounds on her chest and two travelling bags
containing children clothes and popcorn beside her corpse. Though the police
swiftly said the deceased could be the victim of an armed robbery attack, they
also revealed that the bags were planted by the assailants to divert police
investigations, stressing that the police had commenced investigations into the
circumstances surrounding the murder.
The Campaign for Democracy (CD), South East Zone has
reacted to the incident, describing it as a sin against God and humanity. The
group called for proper investigations into the matter with a view to
unravelling the circumstances surrounding the senseless killing of the
deceased. The Chairman, South East Zone, Dede Uzor. A. Uzor condemned the act
while calling on the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubarka to
personally detail a crack team of investigative police officers to look into
the death of the corps member. Dede Uzor further questioned the omission of the
deceased’s name in the passengers’ manifest and the alleged role that the
transport company played when they returned the bags of the deceased to Yola
without contacting the police.
Also speaking on the incident, Chairman of Ndigbo
Unity Forum, Mr. Augustine Chukwudum condemned the act, describing it as the
most wicked act and cruelty ever meted out to any corps member in the history
of the state. Mr. Chukwudum also said his group would mobilize to make sure
that criminal elements are sacked from the commercial city. He said the
presence of such criminals was hindering the development of commerce and
industry in the city.
However, policemen attached to the Central Police
Station, CPS, Onitsha led by the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, Mr. Abdul
Yusuf said they have arrested three persons in connection with the death of the
corps member, adding that they were still working to unravel the circumstances
surrounding the murder of the deceased. The police said, though, that it could
be possible that the girl was murdered at the park by some criminals who then
took her body to the Upper Iweka where they kept two bags containing clothes
belonging to a boy of six years just to divert police investigations.
According to the police, the deceased was not a
victim of ritual killing. It was further gathered that the driver of the luxury
bus that brought the deceased from Yola to Onitsha on that fateful night, the
manager of the transport company and one other person whose identities were not
yet known as at press time have been arrested by the police.
They were picked up to allegedly help give insight
to the death of the corps member as well as explain how and why the management
of the company swiftly returned the bags of the deceased to Yola without
informing the police. When contacted, the Anambra State Police Public Relations
Officer, Mr. Ralph Uzoigwe confirmed that three persons have been arrested by
the police to help them in the course of investigations.
He appealed to the general public to help the police
with more information that could lead to the arrest of the real killers of the
corps member.
RIP Chizoba
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