Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City
The Inspector-General of Police (IG), Usman Alkali Baba, has been petitioned by members of Ivhigbanakhu Royal Family of Fugar in Etsako Central Local Government Area of Edo State to set up another team to re-investigate the murder of their daughter, Mrs. Semira Uwaya, 35, mother of two-year-old girl.
The family, through their lawyer, Joshua Igumah, yesterday in Benin, accused Semira’s husband, Promise Uwaya, of Sabbo Iyakpi in Etsako West LGA of Edo State, now in police custody, of being behind her agonising murder, in view of his activities few days to the incident.
They said the young woman was okay, prior to hearing of her death in the afternoon of March 4, 2023, and that the way the deceased’s husband handled the matter created suspicion, hence the need to report the horrifying death to the police at Sabbo Iyakpi, rather than for members of the family to take the law into their own hands.
Semira’s husband, according to the police, claimed that his wife died around 2 a.m. on March 4 this year, and that while feeling ill, he asked his brother, Sunny Nwaya, to take him to Hope Clinic, Jattu in Etsako West LGA at 6 a.m. on the same day, demanding that he be admitted, while leaving his wife’s body at home, without informing her family members.
The husband, it was learnt, instructed his family members to take care of the body of his wife, after informing them that he tried to wake her, but she was not responding, not minding the injuries and blood on her face.
The husband’s family members were planning to bury Semira, when her relatives got wind of the information and stormed the house, thereby seeing that they had already wrapped her body, from head to toe, with three duvets and packed her in a vehicle, ready for where they would bury her, but the vehicle was blocked, to prevent them from going out.
Autopsy report revealed that Semira died of suffocation, with finger marks on her face, while the police were urged to go further with forensic analysis.
The petition to IGP read in part: “The husband of the deceased was arrested at Hope Clinic, Jattu on March 4, 2023. Upon transfer of the case by Nigeria Police, Sabbo Iyakpi Division to the Homicide Section of the State CID in Benin City, and upon visitation by the investigative team to Hope Clinic, Jattu, the Medical Doctor, who attended to the deceased’s husband, disclosed that he came to the clinic by himself at 11 a.m., with no one accompanying him.
“The team of police officers investigating the matter have not done a thorough job, and for reasons best known to them have compromised the investigation, thereby taking sides with the husband of the deceased, and refusing to treat him as a suspect.
“The Investigating Police Officer (IPO), ASP Osemeke, and the officer-in-Charge of Homicide Section, CSP Olubayo Ajao, were asked who were the witnesses in the matter, since they claimed to have concluded their investigation, but they shockingly informed us that only God was their witness, without inviting Kehinde, the Fugar-based driver/owner of vehicle for evacuation, and Akhigbe Egwakhide, Sunny Uwaya, Emeka Uwaya and Garuba Ofuga, who were moving Semira’s body.
“In a homicide case, and most especially in this 21st century, where technology has greatly improved, investigations must be thorough and carried out with an objective mind. We do not believe that investigation of the murder case has been thorough, without police’s invitation and interrogation of the prime suspects/witnesses.”
The petitioners also urged the IG to immediately constitute new and special investigation team to have a look into the matter and properly investigate it.
The officer-in-charge of homicide section, when contacted through the phone at 6:05 p.m. yesterday, stated that he and his team tried their best and they ensured thorough investigation of the murder case.But Edo Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Chidi Nwabuzor, a Superintendent of Police (SP), did not take his calls from 6:14 p.m., while at press time, he was yet to reply the text and WhatsApp messages later sent to hm.
