Kinsmen accuse uniformed men of murder
Say female lover cast spell on deceased
Absolve father of culpability
By Chinedu Nwaneri, Awka

Residents of Umuayom village Awka, the Anambra state capital have been thrown into shock and confusion, following the death of an only son allegedly by uniformed men contracted by his biological father to discipline him over a love saga.

The deceased simply identified as ‘Chibuzor’ met his untimely death following protracted feud with his father (name withheld), over a love saga with an older lady simply identified as Chinwe.

However, there are conflict- ing accounts of the circum- stances that culminated in the death of Chibuzor, said to have happened last weekend.

While a version of the story claimed Chibuzor’s death was an accident, another family source insisted the deceased met his death at the hands of the men contracted by his own father, ostensibly “to discipline him.”

Orient Daily gathered from the deceased’s kinsmen that Chibuzor, a Lagos based businessman, usually returned home occasionally, especially during festivities like the popular annual Imoka festival, because of his love for cultural festivals. However, things took a different twist when he returned last May for this year’s ‘Imoka’ festival and, in the course of the week-long bacchanalian conviviality, fell in love with the lady, Chinwe.

One of the kinsmen, who pleaded anonymity, told Orient Daily that Chibuzor’s father, who is now at large, opposed his proposal to marry Chinwe believed to be 15 years older than his son.

The father’s grievance, according to him, was that Chibuzor was already married to another woman with whom he already had a child. Our source said that “because of that, he warned Chibuzor against meddling with Chinwe for the purpose of marriage but the boy did not take heed”.

The source added: “Chibuzor was disappointed when his father refused to give his approval to the marriage. When the quarrel became too much the father sought and applied martial assistance and this annoyed his son, Chibuzor.”

Another family source, claimed that the love saga took a confrontational twist when Chibuzor allegedly poured hot water on his father following a heated argument over the controversial second marriage. “His father did not want to call in the police, so he went to Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) where he works as a security man, and called the military men working with him to teach the young man a lesson”, the source who did not want his name in print as he was not authorised to speak to the press, said.

According to him, it was during the beating of Chibuzor, by uniformed men hired by his father to discipline him, that he sustained injuries that led to his untimely death.

However, another source who claimed to have witnessed the dramatic moments that culminated in the death of Chibuzor, told Orient Daily that the deceased was stabbed in the back, waist and buttocks by the military men for allegedly trying to resist when they were dragging him away and that this resulted to him bleeding to death.

One of the deceased’s sisters, who corroborated this version of the stab story, disclosed that an unidentified doctor who attended to Chibuzor at a medical facility in Udoka Estate, Awka, confirmed that the body was cut severally with a sharp object.

She also dismissed reports that her brother’s marriage had failed and that he often beat their father. According to her: “He (Chibuzor) often visited his wife whenever he came home, until he met this lady, Chinwe, who just packed her things and moved into our house, even when the whole family is against the relationship.”

She disclosed that their father mobilised military men to caution her brother and to send Chinwe away from their family house. She regretted that they had left the house before the uniformed men arrived.

“He never had issues with our father, not to talk of beat- ing him. This was until the day they argued about Chinwe always sleeping over at our place, which eventually resulted to our father involving the army for the second time, and then my brother’s untimely death”.

She stated that Chinwe was taken into police protection following the incident and disclosed that her father has remained at large.

Orient Daily investigation re- vealed that Chibuzor’s death allegedly brings the number of men who died prematurely while in relationship with the said Chinwe to three. Two other ex-lovers of Chinwe who reportedly died in mysterious circumstances while dating her, were identified as ‘Ocha’ and ‘Ozo’. Both men reportedly hailed from Umuzocha village, also in Awka.

Some of the deceased’s kins- men who disclosed this, alleged that Chinwe had cast a spell on him, citing this as the reason for his failure to return to Lagos, as usual, four months after the 2017 ‘Imoka’ festival. They also claimed that the spell was instrumental to the deceased allegedly neglecting his wife and son, as well as fighting his own father to maintain the unwanted Chinwe relationship.

They described late Chibuzor as a peaceful, amiable and fun-loving person who, indeed, defended his father at all times. They noted that it was never the intention of the father that his only son should be murdered, rather they accused the military officers of murdering their son.

“We call on the government and other stakeholders to investigate the circumstances that led to the death of our brother, Chibuzor in the hands of uniformed men. Those responsible for this illegal assignment and unlawful murder should not be allowed to escape the long arms of justice”, declared one of the kinsmen who refused to be named.

Meanwhile, Orient Daily learnt that youths and elders of the village were still fum- ing with rage over the cir- cumstances that culminated in the gruesome murder of their kinsman. The demise of Chibuzor sparked off a protest by irate youths in the commu- nity who, reportedly, made bonfires and blocked major roads in the area as they de- manded for justice over this killing of their kinsman.

The Anambra state Police Public Relations Officer, Nkeiru Nwode, while reacting to the development, disclosed that investigation into the case was in top gear. Mrs. Nwode, also assured that the culprits would be prosecuted accordingly, ir- respective of their status when finally apprehended.

The police spokesperson also disclosed that the controversial lover, Chinwe had been placed under police protection, warning citizens against taking laws into their own hands.
Source: https://orientdailynews.com/love-saga-confusion/
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