In Aba, Abia State, a family’s agony over the killing of their 26-year-old undergraduate son is deepened by an alleged demand of N300,000 by police for his autopsy. SUNNY NWANKWO reports
The family gave everything to pay for their son’s university education, but on April 16 everything came crashing down. That day Chidera, a 26-year-old Mechanical Engineering student of University of Port Harcourt, answered a phone call in his parents’ house in Aba, Abia State’s commercial capital. He left the house to meet the caller. He never returned. His parents Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Opara have been in agony.
Chidera was stabbed to death by a young man described as not only a friend but also someone with whom he grew up in the same neighbourhood.
To the Oparas, it was a more than a sledgehammer blow. Chidera’s father, Isaac, has been weakened by years of sickness. His mother too is in poor health. The killing has torn the family apart.
But there is more horror. The police in the state is demanding N300,000 from the family for an autopsy, Mr Opara alleged.
The family neither has that amount of money nor is it willing to pay it if it were available because Opara argues that no amount of money will bring back Chidera. He told The Nation that all he is asking is for his son’s corpse to be released to him from the morgue so it can be buried.
The Oparas hail from Akabo in Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State but live in Aba.
Six years ago, Chidera got admission to study Computer Science at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture (MOUAU), Umudike. He was not excited because he wanted to study Mechanical Engineering. He later got another admission to University of Port Harcourt to pursue the course of his dream. On the verge of graduation, Chidera was killed.
Chidera’s killer is said to be held at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Umuahia, the state capital.
The police at the SCID, Umuahia are allegedly demanding that Chidera’s family foot the bill for investigation logistics and his autopsy. The family, while speaking with newsmen in Aba, said that they were yet to overcome the trauma of Chidera’s death.
The father of the deceased who defied his bad health condition for over three years to speak on the death of his son, battled with his emotions as he spoke.
Pa Opara was not alone, as he disclosed that his wife is also battling with her failing health which has cost the family a fortune.
According to the family patriarch who claimed that police personnel at the SCID in Umuahia were demanding N300,000 for autopsy on the deceased and to also provide transport logistics to and fro Aba to come and investigate the matter.
But the family members of the deceased are only asking the police to release the body of their son for them to bury him as they are not ready for court case because of the financial involvement which they would rather prefer using to treat their ailing father and mother.
“I cannot say that I actually knew what happened. It was on a Monday, April 16 around 7am, my son woke up and was about to go outside. The mother called him but he told the mum that someone called him and that he will soon be back, that he wants to go answer someone that called him on the phone.
“We were still in bed when someone came to our house to tell us that some people were fighting. The person said that we should come and see that our son was fighting near our house.
“I have been down with stroke and the mum was equally down. We couldn’t rush out immediately because of our condition and by the time I got to the scene, the body of our son was lying in a pool of his blood.
“People who had gathered at the scene took my son’s corpse to a nearby hospital but they rejected him and by the time he was taken to the Abia State Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH), the doctor told them that my son died about one hour ago.
“The case was transferred from Uratta Police Station to the State CID because the suspect, Chimezie Nwankpa had handed himself over to the police after stabbing my son with a sharp object believed to be a knife.
“When we got to Umuahia, they said that we should pay N300,000 for autopsy and also provide them with the vehicle that they will use to come to Aba for investigation. I told them that I don’t have that kind of money. Why do we need to pay for autopsy when we were not the people that killed our son? Is there any need for it in the first place after the suspect admitted that he was the one that stabbed Chidera my son?
“What we are saying is that they should release the mortuary tally for us to enable us to go and take him for burial. We are not ready to go to court with anyone. We don’t have the money for the autopsy and to charter a bus for police to come to Aba to do their work.
“For the past three years that I have been in this condition, it has been difficult for the family to feed. The earlier we bury that boy, the easier we come out of the shock and overcome the trauma and tragedy of his loss. We have spent enough money training him in the last six years in the university and now that this one has happened, we just want to bury him.
“My concern is that since I don’t have the money to go on with trouble, they should release the body of my son for burial and if they want to continue with their investigation, they can go ahead, but keeping the body of my child and delaying the burial is what I don’t like. My son has died and he is not going to come back.
“Seven years in the university is enough stress and now that he is no more, let them release his body to the family for burial. I can no longer take their insults and abusiveness.
“They said that the corpse is now police case; that they will do investigation and go to the mortuary to conduct autopsy. What has happened has happened. There is nothing that we can do to bring back my dead son,” the deceased father narrated.
Did the police ask Chidera’s family to pay N300,000 for autopsy and other costs?
The State Police Public Relations Officer, Geoffrey Ogbonna (DSP) said “the conduct of autopsy is very vital for the prosecution. The bereaved has the right to provide a pathologist. However, give the father of the deceased my number to call, pls.”