- wife died during child birth
- waiting for court order to exhume body, police PPRO.
- man’s brother also arrested for ignoring police order.
Nigerian police have arrested a father of four whose wife died during childbirth in Benin.
Samuel Ikpea, 42, a cement dealer from Irrua in Esan Central, was arrested on 28 February 2022 after he was invited to the State Criminal Department, in Benin, following the death of his wife and her newly born.
Samuel’s wife, Nwankwo Nwanmaka Herieta, 39. from Akuzu local government in Anambra State, died on 21 December 2021, giving birth to her fifth child.
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Nwanmaka’s sister has accused Samuel of using his wife for a ritual despite evidence that the woman died at the hospital.
Standard Gazette gathered that the police had first arrested the doctor Marvin Okogie and he was later released on bail.
The hospital was recommended by the couples’ pastor, Apostle Godfrey Iwobho of Anastasia, Ressuretion Power Deliverance Ministry Intl Inc. – along Ovbieko street, near Idokpa Town Hall, Benin-Auchi road, Idokpa, Benin City, Edo State.
On 28 February, the sister insisted that the police must arrest Samuel despite mourning and being the surviving parents to take care of the four children.
After Nwanmaka’s death, Samuel’s family sent a delegate to Akuzu to inform them of the funeral arrangement.
The family demanded N135, 300 for traditional rites but refused to show up on the burial date – 25 February 2022. “The money was handed to the family representative identified as Nnamdi,” a family member told Standard Gazette.
SG gathered that Doctor Okogie paid the settlement and allegedly confessed to the police that the woman died due to medical negligence.
The family source who spoke with Standard Gazette said the doctor was “detained for two weeks at the States CID” before he eventually regained his freedom.
The father of the woman had expressed no interest in pursuing any case, “but the woman’s older sister said she had a problem with her sister’s husband and decided to arrest him,” the source said.
Samuel’s brother, Godday Osemelo, who organized the burial rites on behalf of his brother, is also in detention after he went ahead with the funeral despite the police directive to halt it.
The family claimed the police had told Godday to discontinue the burial a day before, which was too late as the family had spent every penny arranging it.
Nwanmaka’s sister and the police have claimed that Godday connived with the brother to mutilate his sister’s private parts for ritual.
As the man remains in police custody, the family are struggling to take care of the four children left behind while they mourn the loss of their mother.
Standard Gazette gathered that the aggrieved sister in law is also planning on dragging Samuel to court, accusing him of planning to use the children for rituals.
The state police public relations officer, Bello Kongtongs responded to SG’s text message that the officers acted on the instruction from the Inspector General of Police after the woman’s family submitted a petition.
“The case is with State Criminal Dept. There was a petition to the IGP alleging the husband of cutting part of the disease for ritual.
“On receipt of the petition, the police call the husband to stop the planned burial of his wife based on the petition on two occasions. But surprisingly the husband went ahead ignoring the police directive and buried the woman.
“We are now waiting for legal advice to exhume the body. He’s detained on court order. His lawyer and the police lawyer are working together.”
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