Tragedy struck on Wednesday in Ogwuagor in the Abakpa Nike, Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, as a middle-aged man, Eke Ofia, allegedly beat his pregnant wife to death.
The incident happened when the father of four, who dealt in scrap metal on Nkpor Street, Abakpa, reportedly returned home drunk and attacked his wife for not giving him food.
The woman, who was said to be eight months’ pregnant, was rushed to a hospital by neighbours after she slumped.
She was confirmed dead by doctors in the early hours of Thursday.
Punch Metro gathered that the deceased, popularly called Mama Goodluck, lived with her husband on Uburu-Ekwe Street, Ogwuagor Abakpa, for over 10 years. The couple reportedly had constant disagreement over food during the period.
A resident, Mr Chibuike Ozo, said, “The man came back last night (Wednesday) and asked the wife for food. The woman told him she needed to feed their children first because he did not drop money for food. The woman had to even source for garri from neighbours so she could feed her children.
“The response by the woman got the husband, who came home drunk, angry and he pounced on her mercilessly. Before we could come to her rescue, she had collapsed. We rushed her to a hospital where she was confirmed dead in the early hours of Thursday.”
Ozo noted that the suspect was later arrested by men of the Ugwuagor Vigilance Group.
The chief security officer of the area, Ikechukwu Ukwuani, told our correspondent that Ofia had been handed over to the police.
He said, “The story is true. I just came back from the Abakpa Police Station, where we handed him over to the police.”
Efforts to get the state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Daniel Ndukwe, to react to the incident failed, as he did not pick his calls or respond to text messages.
