Nekede town in Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State was thrown into mourning last weekend when a civil servant, Chibuzor Awobi, allegedly committed suicide by drinking poisonous substances that left him dead.
It was learnt that Awobi, 36, was, until his death, a staff of the State ministry of Internal Resources and Pensions.He was said to have died because the parents and brothers of his fiancée, one Chioma Agukpaha from Ihitte Emeabiam community in Owerri West Local Government Area of the state refused him from marrying her.
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A family source told our reporter that Awobi had invested a huge amount of money and energy into the relationship with the girl. He was said to have trained the girl in the university and helped her secure a job at Diamond Bank in Owerri.
Trouble started when Awobi went to Chioma’s family to tell them that he was coming to marry their daughter. The family initially refused him from coming to marry her, but upon his insistence they allowed him and his people to perform the traditional marriage rites.
The traditional wedding was fixed to hold on December 28, 2014 while the church wedding was fixed for January 3, 2015 at the Emmanuel Anglican Church Nekede. But three days to the event, precisely on December 24, Chioma was kidnapped and later released on December 29, a development that led to the cancellation of the wedding.
He was said to have arrested the mastermind of his fiancée’s kidnap who is also her relative. But two days later, his prospective in-laws told him that they had changed their mind and would now support him to their daughter only on the condition that he must release the kidnap suspect from the police custody, a request he gladly accepted by ensuring the bail of the suspect from the police.
However, the situation changed again after the release of the suspect, when Chioma’s brothers told him that they were not ready to be his in-law and that he should forget about the marriage.
Following this development, Awobi was said to have become emotionally depressed. He was said to have called Chioma Friday night to forget about the marriage as her people had said and wished they had married.
He was said to have begun the plot to commit suicide within the compound by drinking a substance.
However, a family source disclosed that he never committed suicide but had slumped as a result of heart break.
The source said he was immediately rushed to a church where prayers were being offered for him.
It was learnt that when the spiritualist could not revive him, they rushed him to a hospital, where the doctor confirmed him dead and directed that his body be deposited to the morgue.
The source blamed his death on his girlfriend’s brothers who refused to allow him marry their sister despite the huge investment the deceased made on their daughter.
Efforts to speak with his fiancée proved abortive as she was said to be helping the police to unravel the mystery behind Awobi’s death. Also our reporter could not reach any of her relatives for comments on the issue as attempts made to reach them proved abortive.
However, speaking with our correspondent on phone, the spokesman of the state police command, Mr. Andrew Enwerem, said the report of the incident had not got to his office. He however said he only heard about it by the side and through rumours, saying he would get back to our correspondent once the official report gets to him.
