A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and former Attorney General (AG) of Anambra State, Chief Nnoruka Udechukwu, has expressed worry over the long delay by the Police and the State Government to investigate the killing of the late Mr Tochukwu Onyemelukwe, a 25-year-old man accused of stealing noodles worth N1000 at Enugwu-Nanka community in Orumba North Local Government Area of the State.
Chief Udechukwu alleged that the deceased was buried without the police or State government conducting an autopsy to ascertain the cause of the man’s death.
He noted that since Onyemelukwe’s death in 2021, no arrest has been made by the security agencies in the State.
ANAMBRAPEOPLE gathered that the late Onyemelukwe had allegedly been murdered by people suspected to be his kinsmen.
According to the information, the man was also allegedly buried at midnight in his family compound by his killers after beating him to death.
Onyemelukwe, who was said to be residing in Lagos with his parents at the time of his demise, had returned to the village on the fateful night he was killed.
He was reportedly arrested by some youths in the area for allegedly stealing a quantity of noodles worth N1,000.
Reacting further while briefing Journalists at his office in Awka on Wednesday, Chief Udechukwu called for the activation of the coroner’s inquest laws of the state.
He said the laws, if put into practice, will help curtail such unholy acts, not only in Anambra State but in the country at large.
According to him, his chamber has initiated a process of coroners’ inquests to unravel the cause of
Onyemelukwe’s unnatural death
He said that his chamber has made an application to the Chief Magistrates Court of Anambra State to hold a coroner’s inquest to determine the cause and circumstances of the violent death of Tochukwu Onyemelukwe.
Chief Nnoruka Udechukwu (SAN), who is the Emeritus Attorney General of Anambra State, disclosed that the deceased died violently on November 30, 2021, and the case was reported to the police, but no account for the death of the young man has been given.
He said that the corner inquest laws were duly enacted in the State but have remained inactive over the years, noting that it is time to activate them.
According to him, most regrettably, the body of Tochukwu was surreptitiously and unceremoniously buried in the compound of Mr Isaac Onyemelukwe without any due process.
“Upon the matter being brought to the notice of counsel by the next of kin of the late Tochukwu Onyemelukwe, counsel, as a legal practitioner sworn to the defence of human rights, rule of law, and public order, considered that it was a matter that was a process under sections 3, 4, and 8 of the coroner’s law caps 35, the revised laws of Anambra State,” he stated.
According to him, as a member of the temple of justice, there is a need to get to the root and activate the law in the state so that nobody will die violently without knowing the cause of his or her death.
“Anambra State Coroners laws made it mandatory that there shall be a coroner’s inquest in
anyone who died through violent or unnatural death,” he stated.
Also speaking, Mr Martin Okeke, a farmer and the Vice Chairman of the Registered Trustees of Enugwu Nanka Village Development Union, Enugwu Village Nanka, joined in the call for a proper coroner’s inquest to unravel the cause of his death.
According to Okeke, “They are unionists calling for a coroner’s inquest to determine the cause of Tochukwu’s death.”
He said Tochukwu was deposited in the mortuary awaiting an autopsy to determine the actual cause of death but was buried without any investigation into the cause of his death.
He called for a proper investigation to uncover, prosecute, and punish those responsible for his death.
“One of our cardinal objects is respect for human life. The public is aware that we addressed a petition to the Inspector General of Police to direct an investigation into the circumstances of Tochukwu’s death.
The IGP assigned the matter to FCID Enugu Annex, which is still sitting on that file. Notwithstanding frustration, we didn’t give up, and we have not given up on Tochukwu’s inquest.
We didn’t give up, and we cannot give up because we did not and do not want his death to be suppressed like many other similar deaths in Nanka.
Amidst the frustration, the biological father of Tochukwu gave up hope and resigned to fate, leaving the death of Tochukwu to God,” he stated.
When I contacted the State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ikenga Tochukwu, on the incident, he said he had no report of such a case in his file.
The PPRO, however, promised to call back as soon as he received information about the matter.
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