Man dies in police custody after wife arrested him for molesting their 2-years-old daughter

By Ifeizu Joe

An Onitsha based businessman who was simply identified as Odogwu has allegedly died in police custody after his wife arrested him for molesting their two years old daughter.

THE RAZOR gathered that the man was arrested by police men attached to Awada police station last week Tuesday after his wife reported that he molested their two years old daughter, but the man later died on Thursday and had been deposited in a mortuary in Onitsha.

According to an insider, the couple had been having family squabbles, which had led the woman to lock out her husband from their home on many occasions for keeping late nights.

The source said: “The man is a businessman in Building Materials Market in Ogidi, just close to Onitsha. He’s married with a baby girl and popularly known as “Odogwu”.

“He is from from Ifitedunu in Dunukofia LGA, but the wife is from Enugu State and they have been married for just three years.

“He is a jolly good guy and a friend. We used to hangout in the evening in our neighborhood, but his wife usually locks him out when he returns home.

“He has even brought his wife to the bar where we used to hangout, just so that she will know us as her husband’s friend and to know that he is not just staying with touts, but their problem still persisted. She has even come to the bar and challenged the husband before.”

It was gathered that when she continued to humiliate him, he decided to send her out of the house and they started having problems.

“Before our friend knew it, she reported him to the police claiming that he fingered their two years old daughter. The guy was surprised why anyone would believe that kind of thing, but shortly after his arrest, we learnt he died.

“We even learnt that the accusation was after the wife visited a prayer house where they prophesied to her that her husband was molesting their daughter.”

Meanwhile, the incident has generated reactions on the internet, with many speculating that police may have tortured the businessman to death over the allegation.

Our source also wondered why Awada police operatives were the ones that arrested him, when the man lived at Nkpor area, speculating too that the operatives may have come on illegal duty.

But the police public relations officer of Anambra State Police Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga denied that any bodily injury was found on the man, to warrant any speculation about torture.

He said: “From observation of the man’s body, there was no mark of violence on the body,”

He also accompanied the reaction with two pictures of the man’s corpse to show that no bodily injuries were found on him.

On why it was Awada police station that arrested the man, the screenshot showed that Nkpor police station that has jurisdiction over the deceased man’s area of residence was burnt down during the EndSARS protest in 2020 and had not been rebuilt, reason its operatives usually take suspects to Awada.