The lifeless body of a widow identified as Enyidiya Ihejirika, has on Saturday, November 23, 2019, been discovered in Aro-Umuekwe village, Aro-Ngwa Ancient Kingdom in Osisioma Local Government Area of Abia State.
Saturday Telegraph gathered from some sources in the village that the woman was raped to death in a farmland where she had gone to carry out menial work.
But contrary to this narrative, other sources, however, claimed that the woman might have been killed and abandoned by suspected ritualists, who might have feared that someone may have spotted them while carrying out their ugly act.
The villagers told journalists that they got to know about the unfortunate incident when some of them who saw the lifeless body of the deceased in the farm the next day raised the alarm. A family source said: “The woman’s husband is dead.
She is very popular in the village because she does menial jobs for many people. On the fateful day, she was said to have gone to a communal farm to work for someone, but she didn’t come back.
“We learnt that she had talked about attending a wedding and many thought she had attended the wedding only for us to get information by people who had gone to the communal land to farm the next day and discovered her lifeless body.
“Her husband died so many years ago. The eldest son, who was in Jos, Plateau State, came back years ago because of the religious crisis there and has since been carrying out menial jobs as well.
“There hasn’t been any incident of herdsmen in our village in the past and in recent time. So, I will not say that she was killed by herdsmen.
It is something that security agencies will investigate to find out.” Another source said “The community is in fear at the moment. Everybody is now living in fears.
We sleep with our eyes open. “We are appealing to heads of various security agencies and the state governor to come to our aid before the situation gets out of hand.
“Knowing that December is just by the corner and like we all know that this is a time where many things happen, that is why we are raising alarm now for quicker and urgent intervention by security agencies.”
When contacted, the state commissioner of Police, Ene Okon, confirmed the death of Ihejirika. The commissioner said there were traces of blood from the deceased mouth and nose, which may confirm fears that she could have been murdered.
Okon said the police had begun investigation into the matter to unravel the cause of her death.
