Pandemonium broke out in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State at the
weekend when a man set his wife ablaze for complaining to her
sister-in-law on phone about the husband’s alleged maltreatment . The
suspect later reported himself to the police. The man, whose name was
given as Ndubuisi Okafor, a trailer driver, who hails from Amawbia, Awka
in Anambra State, had allegedly been having quarrels with the wife for
sometime now.
Okafor, who owns two trailers, was reported to have severally
accused her wife of being too religious which he claimed, prevented him
from making good money. He was alleged to have even destroyed the wife’s
Bible. A source revealed that two days to the incident, the woman,
Chinyere, 40, who hailed from Obingwu Asa in Ukwa West Local Government
of Abia State, had complained to the husband that she was sick and
needed initially money to buy some drugs, which the husband refused.
This prompted Chinyere to call her sister-in-law on phone to
complain about it and other related issues which did not go down well
with the man. Okafor, according to the source, later gave the wife money
for the drugs and travelled to Port Harcourt. When Okafor came back
from his journey the following day he met his wife cooking and went
inside the kitchen to confront her over the phone call to his sister.
The man did not accept his wife’s explanations. He allegedly pounced on
his wife, who had three boys for him and attacked her.
After beating the wife to stupor, Okafor allegedly forced her to
drink some litres of fuel, poured some on her body before dumping his
wife, into a big rubber container before setting her ablaze. Neighbours
who were attracted to the apartment by the woman’s cry for help broke
into their flat, put out the fire before rushing the lady to hospital.
The first hospital she was taken to rejected her due to the high degree
of burns she sustained.
But it was at the Living Word Mission Hospital where she was
admitted and given first aid treatment and referred to UNTH, Enugu. It
was on their way to UNTH at Osisioma, about two kilometres from the
hospital, the woman died. Four hospitals allegedly rejected the body
being deposited at their mortuary because it was badly damaged. When
Okafor learnt the wife had died, he reported himself to the Timber
Police Station where he reportedly told the police it was his wife that
set herself ablaze. Relations of the deceased are alleging that the man
killed their sister for rituals.''
According to the woman’s elder sister, Nkechinyere Nwogu, “before
the incident, Okafor had severally told my sister he needed money at all
costs and that the wife had been the stumbling block, and he even
destroyed her Bible. “Presently, we the family members don’t know where
the body of my sister is because four hospitals rejected her body to be
deposited in their mortuary due to its very bad state.”
When our correspondent visited 45 Azubuike Street by Uratta /Express
junction residence of the couple, the building was deserted by their
neighbours over fear of massive arrest by the police. As at Press time,
the suspect was still being detained at the Timber Police Station.
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