Raped And Murdered: 20-Year-Old Lady Who Returned Home To Write JAMB Killed (Photo)

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■ “My soul has been taken away” –Father

■ “My brain is bursting to pieces” –Mother

Aloysius Attah, Onitsha

If the dead could talk or even be given a second chance to
come back to life, youthful Charity Ngozi Ezeh would not contemplate
taking the decision to return home to take her preparatory lessons for
JAMB and the nursing school.

Ngozi aged 20 was the first daughter
and second child of seven children of Jonathan and Ginika Ezeh of Imufu
community, Enugu-Ezike, Igbo-Eze North LGA, Enugu State.

She
was brought up in Abuja where her parents eked out a living. Despite
being low income earners, the parents struggled to see her through both
private and public schools in Abuja until she wrote her WAEC and NECO
exams including JAMB two year ago. Though she could not gain admission
into the higher school in the same year owing to her not having a credit
in Chemistry, she did not relent, but took another WAEC and was
successful.

Unrelenting in her desire to train as a nurse, the
family decided to bring her nearer home and that was how she relocated
to her hometown to retake JAMB and also write admission exams for a
nearby nursing school in Nsukka.

But the family decision, despite
being the wisest for them at the time of the implementation, has turned
out to be their greatest miscalculation and loss.

Ngozi’s
aspiration to become a nurse has not only turned out a pipe dream, but
her life was brutally cut short on March 27, this year by yet-to-be
identified assailants who not only raped her callously, but also
strangled her to death in a bush path behind the community secondary
school.

For the family, it is a very bleak Easter celebration
while darkness seemed to have enveloped their entire household. To say
the least, the sunshine in their family has been taken away in a most
callous manner, a situation that will only take divine intervention to
forestall further calamity in the family because the parents have
remained inconsolable since then. Worst hit, is the mother who has been
oscillating between going nuts and retaining sanity since the incident
happened.

My ‘soul’ has been taken away from me –Father

Sunday
Sun reporter managed to extract some words from the distraught family
during a visit to their home at Orukpa, Imufu community. Amidst sobs and
sighs, Ngozi’s father, Jonathan, recalled the event of the day before
he heard the shattering news of his daughter’s death.

Having
relocated to the village from Abuja last year leaving the wife and the
other children in the Federal Capital Territory, Ngozi and the second to
the last born joined him in the village this January.

As if he
had a premonition that danger was lurking around the corner for her
daughter, he has been so protective of her that he made it a point of
duty to drop her daily on his motorcycle in the lesson centre at Ogrute
and also comes back to take her home after the day’s activity.

“I
take her to the lesson centre everyday, but I couldn’t find her when I
went back to pick her back around 6:20p.m that day. I was confused
because I know that she doesn’t know much people around having come back
newly from Abuja. I was restless when I got home and I raised the
alarm immediately. Some people told me to relax that she may have
decided to chill out with some boys, but I didn’t take that because I
know her as a very reserved and pious daughter of mine.

“It was
the next day that we heard people gathering somewhere talking about a
young girl that was raped and murdered. They called me to come to the
scene probably to identify her and lo and behold, when I got there, it
was my beloved daughter, lying stone cold, legs parted, her skirt and
under wear removed.

“This was a girl that has lived all her life
in Abuja until now that she decided to be closer home in order to
fulfill her life dream of becoming a nurse. They have taken away my soul
and I can only cry unto God to handle this situation for me and my
family. I want justice. I want to see those who killed my precious
daughter so I can say thank you to him/them,” he said bursting into
tears.

The worst phone call I’ve ever received in my life- Ngozi’s mother

Mrs
Ginika Eze, Ngozi’s mother while recounting how she got to know about
her daughter’s death said the phone call that Ngozi was missing remain
the worst call she had ever received in her life. She noted that before
now, she was so attached to her that it was very difficult for her to
allow Ngozi relocate to the village this year because of her studies.

“I
was too close to her to the extent that I had to think about it one day
critically where I asked myself does it mean that she will not get
married and relocate to her husband’s family one day. That was how I
allowed her to leave me in Abuja more so as it also concerns her future
and happiness which has always been nursing. But since she relocated, we
talk on daily basis and on that day, I called as usual, but her line
was switched off and I had to call her daddy. I asked my husband why her
number was not available and he muttered some incoherent words saying
that they have been searching for her. The next call was that her dead
body has been found. It remains a great shock to me because if she had
been sick before now, it would have been somehow understandable.

“My
brain is bursting to pieces as I think about this. They told me Ngozi
is dead, but I’m yet to understand the reality or circumstances of her
death. If she had died in my arms after some period of sickness, it will
pain me, but I will take it as her fate, but to brutally cut short the
life of a harmless girl just like that, makes me go insane.”

When
asked to describe the kind of person Ngozi was to her, she said: “She
has been a very bright girl. That is my pains. If she was the wayward
type, I would have taken it as her reward for such lifestyle, but this
is a girl whose lifestyle revolves around church, home and studies,
nothing more. She doesn’t have time for boys or such intimate stuffs.”

Traditional ruler sheds tears, vows to ensure justice

The
Traditional Ruler of Imufu Community, Igwe Remigius Attah, while
commenting on the incident expressed sadness on the gruesome killing of
the young girl.

He said that the entire community, including
those at home and abroad, have decided to get to the root of the matter
to ensure that the culprits are apprehended and justice served too.

“I
cannot remember the last time I shed tears, but I cried like a baby
that day after seeing what happened to that young girl. It is a heinous
crime against humanity. Our people are united in seeking justice over
the situation. Though the assailants took away the young girls phone
after accomplishing their devilish task, we have succeeded in tracking
the phone records of the girl. Two persons that spoke with the girl that
day she was murdered have been arrested and are making useful
statements to the police now. I’m only appealing to the law enforcement
agencies to be up and doing and avoid any compromise in investigation
and prosecution of this matter. It is a sad situation,” the traditional
ruler lamented.

The Catholic Church in the community has also
taken a spiritual angle to the matter. Sunday Sun learnt that the Parish
Priest of St Joseph’s Parish, Imufu, Rev. Fr Rufus Achinike rallied the
entire parishioners to embark on seven days rosary procession for the
soul of the departed and for God to expose the culprits.

The
President General, Imufu Town Union, Lawrence Mamah described the
situation as pathetic. He described the deceased as a young girl with
energy and focus and revealed that the 14 branches of Imufu Town Union
across the federation have agreed to support the security agencies to
unravel the circumstances surrounding the girl’s murder.

Mamah
who recently retired from the Nigerian Police said that was the first
time such incident has happened in the community hence the resolve to
tackle the situation without hesitation to ensure that it doesn’t
repeat.

“What we need in this case is justice. The family is in
pain because they lost the same person that they are struggling to train
so that she will even be the bread winner in the family. Her life was
cut short and the most painful was the rape. The signs they left in her
body was very visible and it is appalling and barbaric that such a thing
is happening here.”

He appreciated the police for their effort so far, but didn’t mince words in saying that they should do more.

“There
should be a concerted effort, a crack team that should be following
this. This is an organised crime and this girl was with an android phone
the day she was killed.

She was supposed to sit for JAMB. We
are ready to follow it both spiritually and otherwise to ensure that
justice is done. We are calling on the Commissioner of Police to take
up this matter personally.

“Governor Ugwuanyi is also a
listening governor and we call on him to come to the aid of the family
and help ensure justice too. The Catholic Church here has been trying
their best and we are also calling on Non-Governmental Organisations
that handle women and gender issues to also wade into this matter. This
is a crime against humanity and nobody should ignore it. Today, it is
the family of Jonathan Eze, tomorrow it may be another person’s turn,”
Mamah said.

When the reporter visited the Ogrute Police Division,
the DPO in charge was not available, but a senior officer who pleaded
anonymity said that it was the police that deposited Ngozi’s corpse at
the District Hospital Mortuary while the case file and suspects will be
transferred to the Enugu Police headquarters.

Source:- Sunnewsonline

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