Widow decries unlawful detention of son over alleged murder of his wife

Widow decries unlawful detention of son over alleged murder of his wife

A widow on Thursday called out the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, DIG Joseph Egbunike, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), and the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, over the unlawful detention of her son, Jude Osuhor, for allegedly killing his wife.

Mr Jude was arrested alongside the sister of his late wife, Miss Happiness Efifie, in Lagos State on the 2nd of October, 2021, by operatives of the Force Criminal Investigative and Intelligence Department (CIID), as prime suspects in the alleged murder.

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In a statement made available to journalists on Thursday, titled ’Obey court order, release my son and his sister-in-law, widow cries out to police’, Jude’s mother, Mrs Bridget Osuhor, said the duo were wrongly accused.

According to the statement, Jude and Happiness were granted bail after which they were transferred from Lagos to Abuja on the 4th of October, 2021, because the officers could not provide concrete evidence for their continued detention.

It further revealed that Jude and Happiness were still in police custody after they were re-invited by DIG Joseph Egbunike of FCIID to Abuja for a ‘chat’ on October 5.

Revealing the cause of death, the 80-year-old widow who hails from  Umunede, Delta State, said that the medical report and death certificate issued by Dr Oyetunde Oyeyinka revealed that her daughter-in-law died of Fibroid Menorrhagia, Septicemia, and Diabetic Ketoacidosis on September 14, 2021, following complications from a miscarriage of her eight weeks pregnancy.

But despite the Autopsy report, the deceased’s younger sister, Loveth Efifie, insisted that the duo Jude and Happiness were responsible for the death of her sister.

The family, therefore, lamented that Loveth’s petition hindered the burial of the mother of two, which was earlier scheduled for October 7 in Delta State.

The Osuhors appealed that they both be released as directed by Justice I. E. Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on November 5, 2021, in Suits Nos. FHC/ABJ/CS/1289/2021 and FHC/ABJ/CS/1290/2021.

When contacted to confirm the case, the AC Admin of the FCID, Alex Ebbah, claimed he knew nothing about the case as the investigation of cases is not in his jurisdiction.

When contacted, the CP FCID Homicide, Chollom Gyang, requested the presence of our correspondents at his office, adding that he could only provide such information in his office.

Also as at the time, this report was filed, efforts were made to contact DIG Joseph Egbunike, but he did not respond to calls.

Read the family’s full statement below:

OBEY COURT ORDER, RELEASE MY SON AND HIS SISTER-IN-LAW, WIDOW CRIES OUT TO POLICE

An 80-year-old widow, Mrs Bridget Osuhor, from Umunede, Delta State, have cried out to the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba Alkali, the Nigeria Police Force, DIG Joseph Egbunike, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Abuja, and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to use their good offices to ensure the release of her detained son, Mr Jude Osuhor, and his sister-in-law, Miss Happiness Efifie, from police custody as directed by Justice I. E. Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja on November 5, 2021, in Suits Nos. FHC/ABJ/CS/1289/2021 and FHC/ABJ/CS/1290/2021.

Jude Osuhor and Happiness Efifie were arrested in Lagos on October 2, 2021, by members of the Nigeria Police Force from the FCID in Abuja, on a trumped-up allegation of the ‘murder’ of Jude’s 35-year-old wife, Mrs Vivian Osuhor (nee Efifie), on the instigation of the deceased’s youngest sister, Loveth Efifie, despite a medical report and death certificate issued by Dr Oyetunde Oyeyinka of Healing Field Specialist Clinics, Ajao Estate, Lagos, stating that Vivian died of Fiboid Menorrhagia, Septicemia and Diabetic Ketoacidosis on 14th September, following complications from the miscarriage of her 8 weeks pregnancy. Happiness, the immediate younger sister of the deceased, had lived with her late sister and her husband (Jude) for years in their Lagos home.

Upon arrest in Lagos, Jude and Happiness were transferred from Lagos to Abuja on October 4 and were initially granted bail on October 5 as a police investigation did not reveal any reasonable cause for their continued detention. After their return to Lagos following the bail, they were re-invited by the police to Abuja who paid for their one-way Air Peace tickets for “a chat” with DIG Joseph Egbunike of FCID on October 15 and has remained in police custody since then, despite an autopsy revealing that Vivian was not murdered by her husband or immediate younger sister, another round of police investigation revealing nothing new on the accusations, and two Federal High Court orders secured by their counsel, J. S. Okutepa SAN, for their immediate release. The frivolous petition by Loveth had prevented the burial of the deceased mother of two, initially fixed for October 7 in Delta State by both her family of Agulu, Anambra State and her in-laws of Umunede, Delta State and forcing her corpse to be brought from Lagos to Abuja for autopsy.