One Mr Nweke Chidi said to have purposely allowed his 26-year-old wife, Mrs Nkechi, bleed to death after delivery at their residence, No 2 Chinedu Ogah Street, Kpirikpiri Abakaliki Ebonyi State, has been arrested by the police.
The house help given an eye witness account said, Nkechi, who is the breadwinner of her family “was locked up in the bathroom by a patent medicine provider who helped with the delivery of the baby after administering injections on her,” while she said “the husband pinned her legs down, collected the blood, the baby’s placenta and hid it in his room.”
The maid said after her boss, Nkechi, delivered a baby girl, she started bleeding profusely from morning till her co-tenants came over and took her to Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki where she was confirmed dead.
When contacted, the family members including Nkechi’s elder sister, Mrs Chibuike Njideka, blamed Nweke for his wife’s death by procuring the services of a patent medicine dealer to deliver the baby instead of taking her to the hospital when she was in labour.
Njideka who said the neighbours got to know about the incident around 3:00 am on Saturday, said her sister delivered the child at 11:00 pm on Friday.
She, however, accused the man of deliberately killing her younger sister and called for his prosecution.
She also pleaded for assistance for the upkeep of her late sister’s children, stressing that she alone cannot bear the burden of taking care of the three kids handed over to her.
She further noted that Nkechi was a petty trader, selling drinks, pepper soup, among other consumables, from where she gathered funds to sponsor her husband’s education.
Nkechi’s husband, Chidi, however, was said to have immediately transferred all the money in his late wife account to his personal account same day his wife was pronounced dead.
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Narrating the cause of her death, a nurse who lives in the same compound with the deceased, Ijeoma Chinoyerem said, “I went out with my aunt, on coming back I was called and immediately I rushed to their apartment with my aunt thinking Nkechi had given birth.
“On getting there, I saw Ogo carrying a newborn baby already dressed, I saw Nkechi in a pool of blood, her husband was by her side while the so-called Traditional Birth Attendant (TBA) was at her back with clothes stained with blood.
“I thought maybe I was being called that the woman just gave birth, I went down and asked Ogo if the baby’s cord has been taken care of and the so-called TBA said yes. I now asked of the placenta, I was told that it was safe, so immediately I bent down to check her, I found out that her body was cold. I checked for the pulse I couldn’t get it. I touched her neck it was cold and I then raised the alarm.
“After that, we now decided to take her to the hospital and as we carried her blood was still gushing out from her body, all that I did to see if I could restore her back to life proved abortive.”
Tribune Online gathered that the deceased’s husband, who hails from Umuezeokeoha, Ezza North Local Government Area of the state and a student of Nigeria Law School had allegedly expressed displeasure after the wife gave birth to another baby girl after their first two and allegedly refused to take her to the hospital while bleeding inside their bathroom.
Meanwhile, men of Kpirikpiri Police Station in the area have arrested Nweke and transferred him to the state police headquarters, Abakaliki over the tragedy. But the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Loveth Odah said she had not been briefed on the matter when contacted.
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