How Mother of Six Died In Enugu Police Checkpoint Attack

 … As Victim’s Husband Cries Out For Help

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    BY JUDE OSSAI / ENUGU

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Madam Ukamaka Chukwuka until May 10, this year did not have the premonition of the fate waiting her as she had a deep discussion with her husband, Obinna on their family’s prospects, principally on how their first child, age 14,  will gain admission into secondary school in Enugu.

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The lives of Ukamaka, two policemen and some unidentified civilians whose numbers are yet to be ascertained, were cut short by bullets during an exchange of gun battle between the police and suspected armed bandit.

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The bloody attack occurred at police checkpoint between Presidential Road/Nkpokiti junction, few meters to 105, Kaduna Street, Obiagu Road, Enugu, where the poor woman was living in one-room apartment with her husband.

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Narrating how his wife died, Chukwuka said he is yet to come to terms with the sudden demise of the mother of six whom she described as the breadwinner of the house.

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“My name is Obinna, husband of Ukamaka. I am a Carpenter and I hail from Achi in Oji River, Enugu State.

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“My wife, Ukamaka was a cook in one of the eateries at the Enugu Press Centre and in her usual manner had gone to work and closing around 9 pm decided to treck home.

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“That night I had waited for return until 9pm and went to a place in Obiagu Road to wait for her. I waited till 10pm but there was no sign of her. I called her phone severally and it continued to ring out. So I decided to go and look for her.

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“On getting to Nkponkiti junction, I saw several policemen. One of them stopped me and demanded where I was going. I told him I was looking for my wife and he ordered me back home. I returned to the house by midnight

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“I did not sleep that night. By 6am  the next morning, I  was already on my way to search for her. On that Nkponkiti junction, I saw some people gathered together and discussing. I went and asked whether anything happened there and one of them informed me that a woman was killed last night and her body had been removed from the gutter and taken away. I walked towards the gutter and saw her wears and immediately raised an alarm. It was from there that I was directed to Ogui police station, where they took me to the Eastern Nigeria Medical centre mortuary where her corpse is deposited “, he stated.

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“My problem is how to raise the six children she left behind. I need help. My wife was the breadwinner of the family. I need help as much as possible to bury my wife and take care of the children. Two are still in the Nursery, three in the primary and one in the secondary.

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Recall that Governor Peter Mbah has placed a N10 million bounty on the heads of the two policemen who lost their lives in the same tragedy that consumed Ukamaka and other innocent civilians.

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While briefing newsmen after a State Security Council meeting at the Government House, Enugu, recently Mbah said that the state would go after the culprits with every resource at its disposal to bring the killers to book.

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To many Enugu residents, it will be good if Governor Mbah extends such good gesture to the civilian victims, pointing out that ‘what is good for the goose is good for the gander.’