After the brutal killing of the revered traditional ruler of Orba community in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State, His Royal Highness, Igwe John Nwangwu on his way to his residence in Nsukka some years ago, residents of the University town woke up Friday morning July 19, to be hit by another news that a young mother of five known as Mrs. Uzoamaka Onyishi had been shot dead the previous night by some unknown gun men near her residence at Uwani Ugwu, after the Ikenga hotels junction, Nsukka.
Earlier that day, the woman, Mrs. Uzoamaka Onyishi was at the Enugu State Government House where the newly appointed Commissioners and the SPAs to the State governor were sworn-in. For those who saw her, she was full of life moving from one area to another to ensure that guests to her friend's husband who was also sworn-in were well attended to.
After the event at the Government House, she allegedly went straight to Eha Alumona, Nsukka venue for the reception. When the event seemingly wound down at about 7 :30 pm, she left the venue for her Nsukka residence. She was said to have stopped over at her parent's family compound along Ogurugu road where she had a few words with her mother before bidding them good night not knowing that some harbingers of death were waiting to mow her down. With her in her Toyota corolla car was her Aunty called Jacinta who had been staying in her house.
As she vied off the Nsukka-Ogurugu road along the untarred, lonely and dark route to her house, her Aunty said they noticed that at a particular bad portion of the road, a young man was doing as if he had issues with his motorbike. Filled with pity, Uzoamaka who was driving decided to assist the young guy by beaming her car head lamp to let him see properly and get his bike fixed so they could move on home.
As she was waiting for the young man to leave and unknown to her that the whole thing was a decoy, another man jumped out of the bush from the passenger's side where her Aunty was, pulled open the car door, brandished a pistol ,by-passed Jacinta and pointed it at the head of Mrs. Onyishi. Apparently aware of the precarious condition they found themselves, the two women shouted the name of JESUS over and over and started begging the man to take whatever he wanted including the car but all their pleadings fell on deaf ears.
Like someone dishing out instructions to a child, the boy was alleged to have replied: “The matter at hand now has nothing to do with Jesus. Apparently addressing Uzoamaka, the assassin said “In your next world, you will never snatch somebody's husband again”.
As soon as he made the statement, he was said to have pulled the trigger of the pistol and blew off Uzoamka's head leaving her brain and blood splashed all over the interior of the car. As soon as the mission was accomplished, the men boarded their bike and fled from the scene without taking anything from the car.
Her Aunty who was apparently in shock and traumatized by the cold-blooded assassination, alighted from the car and made her way into the bush leaving the poor woman in her pool of blood. The shot was so point-blank and at a very close range that she never struggled. As her brain was off the head, the impact of the shot scattered her skull and forced all the weave-on on her head and indeed her face on the steering of the vehicle.
Soon thereafter, neighbors who heard the sound of the gun shot but were scared of coming out eventually came to the spot only to discover the driver of the car had had her head blown off. One of those who arrived the scene said that it was a gory sight to behold. Among the early arrivals was a man who was said to be on his way home in his Mercedes benz car. He was said to have come down from his car and on beholding the sight, could only muster the courage to call the Parish Priest of St. Joseph's Catholic Parish, Army Barracks Nsukka and another Priest whose identity was not known as at press time. Also, the woman’s husband, Mr. Sunday Onyishi arrived the scene but was horrified by the remains of his wife. The team from Nsukka Urban Police was also alerted and when they arrived, they advised that her brains be scooped out of her head and buried while her remains be taken to the mortuary.
The Personality of Mrs. Uzoamaka Onyishi:
Though a very beautiful woman, she was said to be a secondary school teacher who never played with her job. She never passed- by unnoticed. She was always at her duty posts at the Urban Boys Secondary School, Odenigbo, Nsukka. Beyond the teaching job, she also sold women’s bags, shoes and jewelries. At her father's house, she held sway as the prefect in the house. Her late father was the traditional ruler of Mbu-amon autonomous community but Mrs. Uzoamaka was said to be the defacto traditional ruler who called the shots from the background. It was also alleged that nothing happens without Uzoamaka's contribution. Her suggestions were almost always respected by other members of the family. At all time material, she was viewed as one who was always on top of her situation.
In any ceremony or event, Mrs. Uzoamaka Onyishi when invited, made valid contributions to the success of such events. She had the capacity to ensure that any event she was tagged in was done successfully and so, inviting Uzoamaka became a known secret of any successful event. Ever cheerful and always beaming with smiles, she made any event a huge success.
Family Frayed Relationship and Suspicions/Speculations:
Even though she had a very strong charisma going for her, people who were close to her and her family say her frayed relationship with her husband, Mr. Sunday Onyishi, left much to be desired. Watchers of the family say that Uzoamaka got married when she was barely 15 years and as at that time, Sunday was doing well in his transport business but after, his business crumbled and forced him to be dependent on his wife, economically and otherwise. While her husband was growing weaker and weaker on issues concerning his business and even fending for the family, his wife was becoming stronger and stronger in those respects.
The Starlite gathered from sources that would not like to be quoted that she went out and came in at her own time and only ensured that her children were not lacking anything. Out of her sweat, she allegedly bought a piece of land and erected a very fine bungalow of two flats, furnished to taste but rather than being commended, some people around claim she must have some explanations to make as to where she got the money to build the house. Of course the suspicion became so exacerbated when the woman also allegedly bought a Toyota Corolla car without any input from her husband. The contention here by these critics was that there was no way she could have put up that house through her income as a secondary school teacher who received barely less than N50,000.00 per month.
There were insinuations from certain quarters that since the husband became weak economically, the connubial bliss that hitherto existed between them waned, became jaded and eventually vanished. The situation gave rise to suspicion and allegation of infidelity to the extent that the husband was alleged to have challenged some highly placed individuals both at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and the society to leave his wife alone. It was gathered on good authority that her husband allegedly gave this warning in the presence of his in laws before the death of the father of Mrs. Onyishi.
If the alleged statement from the assassin shortly before he pulled the trigger is anything to go by, it implies that we now have a crop of women in our midst that can go to any length to deal ruthlessly with alleged snatchers of their husbands
Another angle to the story and speculations by some of Amaka’s close friends strongly suspects that based on the no-love-lost situation between her and husband, he may have been tempted to harass his wife who he strongly believed was dating other men. But The Starlite gathered that this argument lacked merit given the fact that the man had allegedly endured for years and just some weeks before the assassination, the man was also alleged to have warned his wife to avoid coming home late considering that the place they now live was quite out of town and lonely. Insider sources told The Starlite that the warning which was given in good faith became a source of fight between the duo as the woman did not take kindly to the man's suggestion that she could be attacked on her way home. In deed, it was further gathered that though the man and Uzoamaka had lived together in the same house, they had allegedly not had relationship as husband and wife since 2010.
The Starlite also gathered that the man on several occasions had taken exception to the kind of friends his wife was keeping but had no muscle to stop her from going out with those persons who, in his estimation, were leading his wife astray.
A twist that also got people worried was an allegation that she may have been mowed down by a close friend who obviously felt threatened that Mrs. Onyishi was making effort to snatch a very rich friend of hers.
When The Starlite spoke to a police officer who did not want his name in print, he said the force had so many leads and are professionally taking them one by one. He added that there was also an allegation that the deceased was owing a builder who worked for her the sum of N20,000 and which she was said to have refused to pay inspite the man's threat to collect his money.
“We have also heard so many other stories but we are diligently taking them one by one to make sure that we track down the killers and their sponsors. It will not be right for us to tell you the extent we have gone but when we conclude our investigation, we shall make the public know the outcome through the appropriate channel. What I can tell you is that no matter the offence she committed, that person or those persons that plotted and executed her assassination had no right under the law to do so”.
As at the time of going to press, The Starlite gathered that it was possible that the assailants were placed on the trail of Mrs. Onyishi to monitor her activities. At Eha Alumona, venue of the reception by one of the new commissioners, it was alleged that midway into the reception, Mrs. Onyishi stepped aside with a friend to an unknown destination unaware that they were being trailed.
An analyst said that “it was also possible that the assailants were imported from outside Nsukka to do the dirty job” adding that they may have stationed their men at different locations, communicating and updating one another. All the modus operandi are in the realm of speculation and could be further investigated.
Emergence of Adulterers in Nsukka:
A credible source who pleaded anonymity told The Starlite that what is disturbingly in vogue in Nsukka today and indeed other cities, is the alarming rate with which married women commit adultery adding that he tried to conduct investigation into the trend.
He stressed that in the course of his investigation, he discovered that most of the women go into adultery for many reasons top among them being the quest to make money, have fun, spite other women and for those who have some spiritual but fiendish connotations, to satisfy their spiritual leadership which includes to break up homes.
“You wont believe the number of women who are into adultery. They are in there thousands. They go about looking for money, fame, power and spiritual dominance. They have no respect for their husbands. They make sure that their husbands are turned to vegetables, without a say or control over them.
“Above all this, these women allegedly carry their escapades too far by waging war against the oath of celibacy sworn to by our priests. Many of our priests in Nsukka here have fallen victim of these women and their antics. They cook good food and take to parish houses without giving any to their husbands. They are always ready to serve in any committee in the church. They are members and leaders of the Christian Mothers. They woo the priests in order to get them to sleep with them. When eventually they succeed, they start to make abnormal financial demands from these priests. If the priest decides to pull out of the relationship and reject their demands, they threaten to blackmail them. These are agents from the other side of the world.
“Many families have also been crushed. The women are scattered all over the town. You see them at joints. They are always willing to join any group of asho ebi, even when they hardly know the people celebrating. Even when they are not invited, they lobby and force themselves into any available group. They are good at serving at events to attract attention. They go for events but are not always in a hurry to go home.
“Of course, the question I asked was: Nsukka used to have a strong culture that forbid adultery especially for a married woman, what actually went wrong that allows these women to commit adultery and get away with it? I was told that most of these women in the game also go diabolical. It was alleged that there are some deities around Nsukka communities where the women go to have covenant with for protection. At the shrine of one of these deities, there is alleged to be a plate of stone that is oval in shape and on this stone, there is a process that is about five inches high and has the shape of a human penis. After making the covenant with the deity, they sit on that stone and allow the process to go into their virgina. With that covenant, the deity provides them some freebies such as: Protection from running mad after committing adultery. Once they catch a man into their net, the man gets hooked to them and makes him hate their own wife and family.
“The situation gets so bad to the extent that the woman could monitor the activities of the man who ordinarily does not know that he is under a spell. Even if he is making love with his genuine wife and the woman calls him on phone, he gets down and that would be the end at least for that day. You see men who live in rented apartments with their wives and children but build houses for other men’s wives. Oga, as I speak to you, many homes are being manipulated by these women. They make their ways into the political class, business men, technocrats and even lecturers, whom one will ordinarily think should know better.
“What is saving most families are the prayers and supplications they offer otherwise, the situation would have been terrible. The churches are doing something but they should do more by teaching families on how to pray together”.
Speaking on the instant case, our source said the police should spread their dragnets to be able to catch those who planned and executed Mrs. Onyishi and also advised Nsukka women to remember where they come from irrespective of civilization and peer influences.
