Elizabeth Igwe, the mother of two suspects arrested in connection with the killing of the President-General of Umuoji community in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, Silas Onyima, has called for a fresh investigation into the murder of the community leader.
Onyima was killed in February 2024 when some hoodlums invaded his residence.
Subsequently, some suspects were arrested and detained by the police in connection with the killing.
Igwe, while addressing journalists in Onitsha, on Tuesday, called on both the Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, and his Ebonyi State counterpart, Francis Nwifuru, to intervene in the case to ensure that justice was carried out in the matter.
She claimed that her two children – Okey and Makua Igwe – who are currently incarcerated at the Onitsha Correctional Centre for allegedly being among those behind the killing of Onyima, were not the ones who committed the crime.
She explained that she was not around when the incident happened as she travelled to Ebonyi State to take care of her ailing mother, but had met with her children at the correctional centre to inquire from them what actually happened.
Both of them, she said, denied being involved in the murder of the PG.
She said, “We are appealing to the security agencies and relevant authorities to conduct a fresh investigation into the killing of the president-general. We have lived in the PG’s place for over 30 years and my children take him as their uncle. I am wondering why they would kill the man and how could they have mustered the courage to carry out such a dastardly act against somebody they regarded as their uncle.
“We are calling on the Inspector-General of Police to, in collaboration with his counterparts from other security outfits, carry out a very painstaking investigation; they would be shocked by their findings because those behind the murder are not the ones they arrested.”
According to the woman, her son who was with her three other children in the house during the incident told her that on that fateful day, the late PG and the son washed his two cars.
She quoted her son, Makua, as alleging that, “When they were washing the cars, Chief 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 told her he went to play football and the PG later drove to the funeral but after some time, they saw the PG’s vehicle coming back with fierce speed past them, spraying dust on them, and veered into his elder brother, Chief Festus Onyima’s compound.
She said, “My son said they started wondering why the 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 midnight that day, when they had gone to bed with his relation, the woman claimed Makua said he had a knock at their door.
She said Makua woke his sister to tell her that somebody was knocking at the door, but she told him to open the door.
When he opened the door, it was the late PG’s Personal Assistant, who was standing at the door with a bag, which he said belonged to his principal.
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 was locked but the PA allegedly asked him to keep quiet and listen to him.
The PA, she said, told her son that the bag belonged to the late PG and that he should give it to the late PG’s elder brother, Festus, but when he further questioned, he threatened and gave him N10,000 to ensure that he delivered the bag to the Festus.
“My son said the PA warned him never to mention his name as the one who gave him the bag. But before he handed over the bag to Makua, the PA had removed the handset which belonged to the PG from the bag, removed the SIM card, put it in his handset, punched in something before returning the SIM card and handset inside the bag.
“The following morning, my son told me they discovered that Chief Onyima had been killed in his bedroom, but there was no blood in the room showing that the PG was not murdered in his bedroom as they want people to believe.
“When my children heard that the PG was killed including those who had gone to work and those who live in Awka, they came back because he was their uncle. My children were rounded up and were about to be burnt, but it took the intervention of one elderly man in the area who cautioned the people on the dangers of taking the law into their own hands.
“Then, they took them to the police where they were detained for at least three weeks, while Okey and Makua were in detention, both at the State Criminal Investigation Department and SARS in Awkuzu where they were tortured and forced to agree that they were responsible for the murder.”
She further called on people of good conscience to intervene in this matter, saying, “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 the late PG’s bag. They should not kill my children for an offence they did not commit.”
She said that the police arrested the PA, but later released him asking, “How can someone who was murdered in a cold blood be buried instantly without a thorough investigation?”