36 year old Onyekachi Anele, a father of a 4 year old daughter and a one year old son, has been arrested by the the Imo Police
Command, Owerri for mistakenly murdering his wife after returning from vigil held at Jesus Disciples Fellowship.
Sunday Sun learnt from the Imo Commissioner of Police, Mr.
Taiwo Lakanu that trouble began on June 1, 2016, when Anele’s wife,
32-year-old Chikodi, asked him to give her son from an earlier marriage,
N100 to take to school.
Taking up the tale, Anele said: “I got married to my late wife
Chikodi Anele over four years ago. She had a son for another man before
we got married. We have been living together in peace. We have two
children. Our first child, a girl, is four years old while the second
child is a boy, who is just one year old.”
He continued: “On May 31, 2016, I went to my church, Jesus Disciples
Fellowship, where we had a vigil. I came back around 5: 30 am and
started playing Christian music. My wife came to where I was and said
that I should give my stepson N100 naira to go to school. I told her
that I had no money with me.
“You see, my late wife was hypertensive; she became very angry that I
did not give my stepson N100. She started to insult me. I got angry and
slapped her.
She slapped me in return. I was shocked by her effrontery and slapped her a second time. She fell down and fainted.
“I rushed her to City Hospital, Nekede. On getting there, the doctor
checked her and confirmed that she was dead. I went to the nearby
police station at Umuguma and reported the matter to the police and they
arrested me,” he said.
Promptly, the case was transferred from Umuguma Police Station to
State Criminal Investigation Department, Owerri, the Imo State capital,
where he has been in detention as investigation into the matter was in
progress.
The officer-in-charge of the homicide section of the SCID, Supol
Innocent Obi, further revealed that family members of the deceased had
not yet been to the police to know the state of the matter. He stated
that Anele had not yet informed them.
In anguish, Anele, told Sunday Sun: “I love my wife. I had
no intention to kill her. It was misunderstanding and annoyance that
prompted me to slap her and she died. Up till now, it looks like a dream
and a mystery to me.
When Sunday Sun visited the compound where Anele lived with
his family before the unfortunate incident happened, his neighbours were
still in shock.
One of them, Chukudi Eneka said, “They both loved each other; they
were a good family. The devil just caused this thing. Suddenly we heard
them quarrelling. The husband slapped the wife and the wife slapped him
back. The husband then slapped her again. She fell down and fainted. We
thought it was a joke. When she was taken to the hospital, the doctor
said she was dead. We are shocked over the incident.”