IT was a sad story of love gone sour. Indeed it came as a big shock
to residents of No. 8 Eze Street, off Okposi Street, Nkaliki, Abakaliki
when they woke up to discover that their neighbour, Mr. Yaune Okorji, an
Assistant Immigration Officer attached to Ebonyi State headquarters of
the command, had lost his life because of a marital squabble which had
lasted for quite some time.
Vanguard Metro, VM, gathered that the deceased and his embittered
wife, Mrs. Judith Okorji have been having serious marital crisis,
leading to accusation and counter-accusation over issues bordering on
infidelity and that several attempts made by senior immigration officers
to reconcile them yielded little or no success.
The quarrel reached a tragic climax on the fateful day when the
deceased accused his wife of sleeping with another man in a hotel.
According to sources, the immigration officer who hailed from Ahoada in
Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State, the same community
with his wife, was stabbed to death around 1:00am after a fight with
Judith got out of hand.
An eye witness who did not want her name mentioned stated that when
Mr. Okorji returned late to the house on the fateful day, his wife who
was already angry because of the husband’s excessive consumption of
alcohol started interrogating him, thereby leading to a quarrel.
She said: “It was then that the wife out of annoyance grabbed a knife
very close to her and stabbed him on the upper part of his left hand
and it pierced through his chest and the man fell down, with blood
gushing out from the stab wound. Neighbours who were attracted to the
scene by shouts for help, grabbed him and put him on a motorcycle and
rushed him to the Federal Teaching Hospital. Unfortunately, he died on
the way to the hospital”.
An unconfirmed source told VM that some angry relatives of Mr. Okorji
had responded to the incident by burning down the residences of the
suspect’s (Mrs. Okorji) relatives in River State. Consequently, serious
tension is said to be building up in the hometown of the couple.
Confirming the incident, the Ebonyi State Police Public Relations
Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP Sylvester Igbo, told
newsmen that Mrs. Judith Okorji, the 24-year-old accused, had been
arrested by the command for allegedly stabbing her husband to death
after a quarrel bordering on infidelity.
The incident, since it occurred last Sunday, have generated lots of
insinuations as bewildered neighbours in the area were seen discussing
the matter in small groups.
Igbo said: “When the matter was reported, the police went to the
scene and she was arrested. In the course of the investigation, she made
confessional statement to the police. The Police discovered that she
used the dagger belonging to the husband to stab him when they were
quarreling.
It was alleged that the woman was accused of infidelity by the
husband. The deceased was a staff of Immigration here in the state from
Ahoda East in River State. They were living as husband and wife before
the incident”.
According to him, investigation so far conducted by the police on the
matter indicated that the accused, a nursing mother, who already had
three children for the man, might have been provoked to carry out the
act after the husband accused her of infidelity.
The Police spokesman revealed that the accused, who is a law student
of the Nigeria Open University, had admitted to committing the crime but
blamed it on the devil.
VM gathered that Judith who was in police custody, was later charged
to court and remanded in prison custody for further investigation as the
body of the deceased had been deposited at the Federal Teaching
Hospital, Abakaliki, FETHA, for autopsy.
Also, the children of the deceased are said to be in custody of one
Mrs. Eddy, a friend to the accused, for their up keep following the
unfortunate episode.
Culled from Vanguard.
Household quarrels can lead to one loss of live,this is so terrible.Why take another life?People don't see value in life,so sad.
