The family of a 45-year-old woman, Ugochukwu Chima, who was allegedly killed by her husband in a domestic violence in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, has insisted on seeking for justice for the deceased.
Mrs Ugochukwu Chima was laid to rest in her home, Itim in Edda local government area of Ebonyi State amid tears, pain and agony from family members, friends and well-wishers.
Ugochukwu who died in an Ebonyi hospital on October 24, 2024 has her death linked to severe injuries inflicted on her by her husband in a violent attack on September 4, 2024.
The late Ugochukwu and her 54-year-old husband, Chima Etta Eseni, were married for 16 years with three children before the ugly incident.
Speaking to journalists, the deceased brother, Mr. Sunday Omaka Chima, insisted that the family must seek for justice over the death of their daughter and sister stating that such was her sister’s demand before she gave up.
“Our family must seek for justice. Our sister made death declaration, and it is a very strong evidence to nail whoever has a hand in the circumstances of her death.
“Based on that, if we say we are no longer interested, we would be betraying her. For her to have said before her death that even if she dies, we should seek for justice, so shall it be. We must look for justice.”
In a media chat, the Ebonyi State coordinator, Gender-based Violence Taskforce, Barr. Faithvin Nwanchor and the state coordinator of the National Human Rights Commission, Christopher Okorie, decried the spate of Gender Based Violence GBV in Nigeria and Africa in general as alarming.
Nwanchor, also the HOD, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Response in the State Ministry of Justice, called for concerted effort from all and sundry to end the ugly menace of GBV in the society which affects all sexes.
She noted that whenever a woman or a man suffers GBV in a home, the Children are also badly affected physically, mentally and psychologically, and their psyche could be permanently damaged.
She charged women to always speak up when in a violent relationship. “We must be able to read the red flag. When it is no longer working, it is better to leave and live rather than dying, Nwanchor stated.
On his part, Okorie described death as the highest consequence of GBV. “Death is the ultimate negative end result of GBV, and that’s why we have been fighting on the side of prevention.
On the concern about the fate of the children of the deceased if their father is to be finally convicted and incarcerated, Okorie responded: “What I have to say is that it is better to be fatherless than to have a murderous and irresponsible father, if at all it is proved at the end that it was the action of the man that led to the death.”
