Domestic violence: Anambra denies autopsy report on suspended LG Chairman’s wife

Tony Okafor, Awka

The Anambra state government has denied a certain preliminary autopsy report on the alleged murder of Mrs Chidiebere Iloka, wife to the suspended Nnewi North Local Government Area Chairman, Mbazulike Iloka.

The government in a statement on Wednesday by the Commissioner for Justice, Prof Sylvia Chika Ifejeme, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Adam Obidike and their counterpart in Women Affairs, Mrs Ify Obinabo described the report as unprofessional and pre-emptive.

The report was copied to the Inspector General of Police, Commissioner of Police Anambra state and the Human Right Writers Association of Nigeria.

The suspended LG chairman was accuse of complicity in the death of his last month.

Last week, however, reports had it that the two pathologists nominated by the deceased family made available what they called preliminary autopsy report on the death of their sister without recourse to the collective reports being awaited from their other four colleagues.

Reacting the development, the state government said the preliminary autopsy report from the two pathologists on the side of the family of the deceased was unacceptable as according to it the six pathologists charged with such responsibility were expected to make public the report.

Part of the government’s statement read: “We coordinated the autopsy examination, and appointed two experienced consultant pathologists out of the six that participated in the examination and wish to state categorically that no conclusive autopsy report has been issued by the team of Pathologists.

“The elder brother of the deceased Mr. Uchenna Ezenwoye through his lawyer. D.O. Ezeonwuka, Esq and on the 12th August 2022 submitted a strongly worded petition addressed to the Commissioner of Police Anambra State, entitled:

“Homicide and gruesome murder of Mrs. Chidiebere Iloka (nee Ezenwoye by Mbazulike Iloka: A call for your intervention and justice”.

In the petition, the government statement continued, Mr. Uchenna Ezenwoye averred, among others: “that Mr. Mbazulike Iloka as a person known for his several and continuous beating of his wile, late (Mrs) Chidiebere Iloka (nee Ezenwoye) to the extent that family members have times without number warned Mr. Mbazulike Iloka to stop his acts of beating his wife, but to no avail; that he (Uchenna Ezenwoye) on several occasions advised Mbazulike Iloka not to beat his wife for whatever reason but he refused to take the wise advice, rather he boasted that nobody will come to his house and tell him how to handle his wife and that he can do and undo and nothing will happen, among others”.

The statement said as a government with zero tolerance for domestic violence (let alone one that allegedly led to death) as well as the fact that the accused, Mr. Mbazulike Iloka, was an appointee of the government, the government decided to take every necessary step to ensure justice for both the dead and Mr. Iloka, adding that was a part of the reason it decided to coordinate the autopsy process .

Surprisingly, the statement continued, “on 17th August (barely 24 hours after the autopsy process began and samples were taken for laboratory tests, including toxicology tests), the same elder brother rushed to swear an affidavit claiming that an autopsy had already been conducted on his sister on 16/8/2022 by a team of pathologists which showed that the deceased was not killed.”