Wife calls for prosecution of APC member over death of her 33-year-old husband in Edo

Esther Osaghae, a nursing mother of a two-month-old baby, has appealed to the Inspector General of Nigeria Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, and the public for help in unravelling the mystery surrounding the death of her 33-year-old husband, Fidelis Osaghae.

Mrs Osaghae said her husband died mysteriously at work in the early hours of Monday, July 29. She pointed out that the deceased's boss, Valentine Oyemike, only called her to see the body of Mr Osaghae, who left the house safe and sound less than four hours before his death.

The widow spoke on Tuesday during a press conference held by the Akin Fadeyi Foundation (AFF)a non-governmental organization dealing with this issue.

Until his death, Mr. Osaghae worked as a Manager at Valchi Fast Food and Bar, Angle 90 Branch, Auchi, Edo State. The company is owned by Mr. Oyemike.

Mrs Osaghae alleged that her employer, Mr Oyemike, a candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 House of Representatives elections in Delta State, has still not come clean on the circumstances surrounding her husband's death.

She also accused the Auchi Division of Edo State police The command accused the police of poor handling of the case and stated that more than ten days after the incident, there had still been no arrest by the police.

Meanwhile, the AFF has petitioned the Police Headquarters in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, calling on the IGP, Mr Egbetokun, to “take over this matter and bring it to a just conclusion.”

A copy of the certified petition signed by AFF Executive Director Akin Fadeyi and obtained by PREMIUM TIMES said that the Auchi police were not trusted to handle the case because they had “jumped to conclusions and absolved Mr Oyemike of responsibility for the death of Mr Osaghae”.

“Mr Valentine is an influential person in Auchi, Edo State and therefore we cannot risk our vote of confidence in the investigation into the death of Mr Osaghae in this jurisdiction for fear of interference and compromise,” the petition said.

However, the Edo State Police said the case had been referred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) “for further investigation”.

But Mr Oyemike declined to comment, saying the police were already conducting investigations.

Family gives accountability

Mr Osaghae's widow said in her testimony that her husband had never been suicidal and that due to the nature of his work, he was used to coming home late at night.

She said that at around 2:30 a.m. that midnight, her husband had hurried home on his bicycle from his workplace, which is said to be about a 15-minute drive from their home, to pick up “something” for his boss to take to work.

The deceased reportedly stormed out almost immediately, telling his wife not to lock the door and that he would be back soon.

She said: “After a while, I called my husband, but he didn't answer the phone. When I woke up at around 5:00 a.m., I still didn't see my husband next to me because I hadn't locked the door. I called again, but I couldn't reach him.

“I decided to call his colleague Tracey, who is also the supervisor on site. After several calls, she finally answered. She started calling Mana! Mana! Short for manager and hung up.

“I called her several times until she answered and said that 'everything was under control' and ended the call.”

Despite several attempts to reach Tracey, Mrs Osaghae said she could not reach her or her husband until her employer, Mr Oyemike, called her at about 6:00 am and asked her to come to Favour Hospital, Afasho, Edo State.

Her elder sister, only identified as Etomi, who was at home with her wife, was a nursing mother and wanted to go to the hospital but when she reached the hospital, she found the body of Mr Osaghae in Mr Oyemike's car as he was allegedly brought dead to the hospital (BID).

At the press conference, a photograph of the body showed strange marks and injuries on the body of the deceased. Mr. Fadeyi suspects that these may be due to the torture and pain inflicted on the deceased before his death.

AFF's petition

AFF stressed in the petition that based on the photographic evidence and the family's statements, “we firmly believe that Mr. Osaghae was in the care of Mr. Oyemike until his death.”

The petition further states: “Since this incident, Mr. Oyemike has been at large and the DPO of Auchi Division, Edo State has shown no willingness to take the necessary steps to solve this suspicious murder.”

“Based on this development, it is clear to us that the events surrounding Mr. Fidelis’ death are suspicious.”

Mr Fadeyi said his organisation was convinced that in Nigeria, the presumption of innocence applies until proven guilty in a court of law and this belief was the reason for the decision to request the IGP to take over the case.

“We have no confidence in the Edo State Police and that is why they have asked for the case to be transferred to Abuja. We want the authorities to do their job, we trust that the police will get to the bottom of the matter. We do not want to live in an environment where justice is denied to us,” Fadeyi told journalists.

“We believe in the ability of the Nigeria Police to obtain justice for Ms. Esther and we stand ready to provide all necessary assistance in this regard. We look forward to a speedy investigation and appropriate action to redress this injustice,” he noted.

Companies, police speak

When PREMIUM TIMES contacted Mr Oyemike on Tuesday, he admitted that Mr Osaghae was his employee.

However, he said he would not comment on the matter as it was being handled by the police and might end up in court, and hung up.

“The case is currently being investigated by the police and I cannot comment on that. It is currently being investigated and I am sure the next step will be a court case. If they have gone that far, it will definitely end up in court,” he said.

While the family told journalists that the case should be prosecuted, Auchi Police Detective Inspector Abel Oguntula said the deceased's father said Jehovah's Witnesses “did not want an investigation into the matter because they had resigned themselves to their fate”.

“We tried to convince them to allow us to investigate, but they said no. And we have had similar cases where relatives said they did not want an investigation,” Mr Oguntula told PREMIUM TIMES.

Meanwhile, the new Police Public Relations Officer (PRO) in Edo State, Joel Moses, said he would seek details of the case and get back to him before noon. When PREMIUM TIMES called back, Mr Joel said: “A press release will be issued shortly.”

Although Mr. Moses was unable to provide the statement, he only sent a brief message: “The matter has been referred to the State CID for further investigation. The outcome will be announced once the investigation is completed.”