Police detectives at the Criminal Investigation Department, CID, Panti, Lagos, are currently working to untangle the mystery behind the sudden death of a middle aged woman, Obiageli Anajekwu. She was alleged to have been battered by her husband, Ikechukwu Anajekwu on January 19, 2015. She ran to her friend, Chinyere Onyali’s house where she died two days later.
Pleading that he is innocent, the accused, Ikechukwu Anajekwu, 54, lamented that life has never been the same ever since he agreed to marry the late Obiageli.
“I am an international businessman and have lived in several countries in Europe. I even own an African restaurant in Brazil. My family insisted that I should invest at home and also marry a Nigerian woman. I had married a white woman and I have children in Brazil.
“One of my relatives introduced Obiageli to me, that she is the perfect woman on earth. Sometime in 2013, we had a traditional marriage and I decided to stay around in Nigeria so that she can enjoy me a little. Suddenly, I realised that she is fetish especially when she did not conceive after six months.
“She accused everyone in my house of being the brain behind her childlessness. Meanwhile, the little business that I was doing in Nigeria started to crumble. I was finding it hard to make a living. I travelled down to Anambra and met a Reverend father who prayed for me. He told me that the cause of my misfortune was within my family. He asked me to return home and search my house. I came back in September and searched and discovered a mobile shrine in my wife’s bag. It had my pictures and those of my family members. She then used pieces of a red cloth to tie all of them together. I confronted her and she denied any involvement but refused to swear.
“I reported the matter to her people and told them that I am no longer interested in the marriage. I made it official in December and returned to Lagos. I was surprised when on January 19, she came knocking at my door,” Ikechukwu narrated.
On what he felt transpired on the day he was accused of beating up Obiageli, Ikechukwu said that he simply asked her to go back to where she was coming from. “I was already terrified when I discovered that she is the one behind my ordeal in Lagos. When I opened my gate and saw her, I shut it against her. I later drove out with my friend who came visiting. When I returned at about 11pm, I saw her still standing at the gate. She prevented me from entering the premises. I only dragged her out of my way and closed the gate. I received a call from my kinsman, Okonkwo, the next day that he wanted to discuss business with me. I came and was disgusted when I realised that it was because of Obiageli. He pleaded that I should accept her back and I told him that I am not interested. She was looking beautiful as usual and very healthy. I was surprised when Okonkwo called me on Wednesday that she was dead. I know they killed her and not me, I can swear with my life. I was committed to the marriage, although she did not have a child. I have even taken her to several doctors just to show that I am committed to the marriage, but she is a witch,” Ikechukwu further said.
He insisted that the police should arrest Chinyere and her husband. “They killed my wife and turned around to accuse me. I know that the autopsy will surely expose what happened to her. I have never touched her despite all the bad things that she did to me in the past. If she was wounded or battered, then she must have sustained the wounds during her trip to her friend’s house. I have a hard face but I am the most innocent man on earth”, he pleaded.
