By Emmanuel Ndukuba
Awka, June 3, 2024 – Mrs Elizabeth Igwe, a widow and mother of two suspects in the murder of Chief Silas Onyima, the President-General of Umuoji community in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra state, has called for a fresh investigation into the murder of the deceased.
Addressing newsmen in Onitsha, Anambra state, Mrs Igwe who spoke through her first daughter, Onyinye Igwe, a Make-up artist, also called on Gov. Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra state, his Ebonyi state counterpart, Gov. Francis Nwifuru and other stakeholders to intervene in the case to ensure that justice is done.
She said her two children, Okey and Makua Igwe, who are currently incarcerated at the Onitsha Correctional Centre for allegedly behind the killing of Chief Silas Onyima were not the ones who killed the man.
The widow in her late 50 years old and mother of ten children whose husband has died some years back, said she was not around when the incident happened, but in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state to care for sick mother.
She said she travelled to Ebonyi state to take care of her sick mother, but had met with her children at the Correctional Centre, Onitsha to inquire from them what actually happened.
Both of them, she said, denied being involved in the murder of the late President-General.
She said she had lived in the PG’s compound for over 30 years, and his children took the late Onyima as their uncle, wondering why they would kill him.
“How could they have mustered the courage to carryout such dastardly act against somebody they regarded as their uncle? Igwe questioned.
She called on the Inspector -General of Police (IG) in collaboration with his colleagues of other security outfits to carryout a painstaking investigation, saying that they would be shocked that those around the PG were behind his murder.
Mrs Igwe asked the police authority to invite the Personal Assistant (P.A) to the PG, Mr Emeka Eneghu to ask him what he knew about the PG’s murder.
According to her, Makua Igwe, her son who was with three other of her Children in the house, told her that on that faithful day that the PG and himself washed his two cars.
She quoted the son, Makua as alleging that when they were washing the cars, late Onyima received a call, asking him if he would come to the funeral that took place in the town that day, which he said the PG replied in affirmative.
In the afternoon, she said Makua, said he went to play football and PG later drove to the funeral but after sometime they saw PG’s vehicle with fierce speed drove past, spraying dust on them and veered into his elder brother, Chief Festus Onyima’s road.
“They were wondering why PG was driving in that manner because that was not his character but they continued with their football game,” she quoted Makua as saying.
Later in the mid-night that day, when they had gone to bed with his relations, she said Makua said he had a knock at their door.
She said Makua woke up his dumb sister to tell her but she told him to open the door and when he opened the door it was PG’s PA, Emeka Eneghu who was standing on the door with a bag belonging to his principal-PG.
Mrs Igwe said Makua told her that he asked the PA how he managed to scale the wall to enter into the compound since the gate had locked but the PA allegedly asked him to keep quiet and listened to him.
The PA, she said, told her son that the bag belongs to PG and that he should give it to his elder brother, Festus Onyima but when he further questioned, he threatened him and gave him N10,000 to ensure that he delivered the bag to the elder brother Festus, and warned him never to mention his name as the one who gave him the bag.
But before he handed over the bag to Makua, said the woman, the PA had removed the handset which belonged to the PG from the bag, removed the sim card, put in his handset, punched in something before returning the sim and handset inside the bag.
The following morning, she said, they discovered that Chief Silas Onyima has been killed in his bed room, but there was no blood in the room showing that the PG was not murdered in his bedroom.
When her children heard that the PG was killed including Okey Igwe, who had gone to work in Lagos and those who lives in Awka came back to Umuoji because they took late Silas as their uncle.
But, what they saw was that her children were rounded up and were to be burnt, if not for the intervention of an honest elderly man in the area who cautioned the people of the danger of taking laws into their hands.
Then, they took them to the police where they were detained for at least three weeks. While Okey and Makua have been in detention both at the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and SARS in Awkuzu where they were tortured and forced to agree that they were responsible for the murder.
According to Mrs. Igwe, “Okey told me that the PG’s PA kept on telling him at the police station that I should admit that I am responsible for the PG’S murder that he will bail me later and send me to oversea. It was fear of early threat from the PA and police torture made me to admit”
Mrs Igwe further said: “People of good conscience should intervene in this matter. I could not come back from Ebonyi state because I was told that if I come back, I would be a victim too like my children.
“How can we kill the PG? We have been in that compound for over 30 years. My appeal is that they should investigate the PA properly and ask him what he was doing with PG’S bag? They should not kill my children for an offence they did not commit,” Igwe said.
She continued, saying that police arrested the PA, but later released him.
“How can someone who was murdered in a cold blood be buried instantly they noticed that the matter should appear in the court.
It seems that police personnel in Anambra state have compromised in the matter because if not why did they release the PA? and turned blind eyes to this aspect which my son told me? she queried.
