A coalition of women right groups, Concerned Women Voices has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, demanding an unbiased investigation into the death of Consultant Paediatrician, Dr. Hestianna Idiodi-Thomas.
Dr. Idiodi-Thomas was alleged to have committed suicide on October 13 at her 16, Gani Dabiri Street, Ajao Estate, Lagos, residence.
But the claim by her pathologist husband, Dr. Babafemi Thomas, that she committed suicide was punctured by the deceased’s friends and colleagues at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi Araba, who alleged that she was a victim of domestic violence.
The mother of two was allegedly rushed to LUTH where she was confirmed dead with injuries and bruises on her head.
Following the alleged murder and cover up claims raised by the deceased’s friends, colleagues and former classmates, the group expressed its lack of trust on the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to be objective in its findings since the Association had claimed that the deceased was a psychiatric patient.
The coalition further wondered why the deceased was allowed to attend to children until three days before her death, since the NMA knew she was a psychiatric patient.
It accused the Lagos State Police Command of maintaining silence despite the controversies surrounding the death of the paediatrician.
A statement issued by the group’s lawyer, Benjamin Odeh, appealed to the IGP that the matter be treated as a possible homicide because there were several unanswered questions and issues that can only be rested by unbiased investigation.
It wants the IGP to wade into the case by constituting a crack team of independent investigators from outside Lagos to conduct a fresh investigation into the “violent and unfortunate death of the woman.”
While noting that the paediatrician’s burial has been fixed for November 12, the coalition appealed to the IGP to not allow the truth be buried with her.