… Husband ‘killed’ a year after wedding
… As Edo State Police dilly-dally to make an arrest
…Deceased family accuses DPO of playing a biased card
A grieving widow, Mrs Esther Osaghae, has appealed to the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of her husband, Mr Fidelis Osaghae, at his workplace, ValChi Fast Foods and Bar, Angle 90 Branch, in Auchi, Edo State.
The woman whose marriage was just a year old and still nursing a two-month-old baby, said that she could not understand how her healthy husband, who left for work at about 2:30 am, asking her to leave the door unlocked for him, suddenly died at his workplace.
According to her, something was fishy, and she refused to buy the story being sold by his boss, Mr Valentine Oyemike, owner of ValChi Fast Foods that Fidelis killed himself by drinking sniper at his workplace.
She further suspected that her husband must have been murdered after seeing dark patches and injuries on his body. She also noticed that his trouser was torn as if he was manhandled. She opined that he appeared to have been tortured.
She said that drama occurred on the 28th of July 2024 and the matter was later moved to Auchi Police Station, but rather than get justice, Esther alleged that the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Auchi Police Division, tried to dissuade her from seeking an autopsy and then told her he was suspecting her and her sister of being behind the death of her husband.
Esther felt that the only person who could shed light on what happened to her husband, including explaining the strange marks on his body was his boss, Oyemike, but the DPO dashed her hope, as he allegedly told her that Oyemike had also hinted that Esther and her sister, Omolara was responsible for the death of Fidelis and that he believed him.
On the 6th of August 2024, Esther was again at the Police Station, but neither Oyemike nor anyone from his organisation was there.
This has become the lot of Esther since her husband died. The Police at Auchi Division will invite them to the Police Station, but nobody from Fidelis’s office to represent the organisation.
She was disturbed that up to date, nobody had been arrested in connection with the questionable death of her husband.
Meanwhile, Esther maintained that she wanted to get to the root of the death of Fidelis.
Determined to get justice, Esther ran to Akin Fadeyi Foundation, (AFF), a non-profit civil society organisation that leverages communication and technology to tackle corruption in Nigeria, social injustice, including cyberbullying internet fraud, and other related areas while promoting integrity, transparency, and accountability in Nigeria.
AFF and Esther believe that if the IGP steps into the case, the truth will be unravelled, while justice will be achieved.
Our reporter reached out to Mr Oyemike, to find out from him what transpired on the fateful day that Fidelis died at his establishment, but he hung up the phone on the reporter, claiming it was a wrong number. But Truecaller showed, “Oyemike Valentine.”
Our reporter further sent an SMS to Oyemike, but he also did not respond.
The Executive Director of AFF, Mr Akin Fadeyi, said AFF has worked with the Nigeria Police on numerous occasions, so he believed that the Police should be able to unravel the mystery behind the death of Fidelis.
Recalling the event leading to the death of her husband, Esther explained that her husband had been working with Oyemike for four years and before his death was a manager.
She explained that on the 28th of July, Fidelis dashed home from his workplace, at about 2:30 am, saying that he came to pick “something for his boss.”
She presumed it was money, stressing that her husband used to bring money belonging to the boss to the house and then would return it on the order of his boss. It was an arrangement that both parties seemed to be comfortable with. Esther said it was the usual practice for Fidelis to dash home from his office to pick “something” for his boss, then go back to the office.
She said that the same motorcycle that brought him to the house that fateful day, waited, and took him back to his workplace.
Before Fidelis left, however, he told her not to lock the door, so that he would not have to wake her when he returned home.
He also promised to call her via video, which was their usual practice, if something came up at his workplace and he would not be able to return.
She would later wake up at about 5: am and discovered that Fidelis was yet to come home, she quickly called his line, but could not get him. She then called his office, and a supervisor identified as Tracy picked up the call.
Crying brokenheartedly, Esther said: “Tracy said that the situation was under control and hung up. I didn’t understand what she meant. I called endlessly, but this lady didn’t pick up.
“Later, at about 6:am, a strange number called me, I picked up, and it was my husband’s boss, Valentine Oyemike, he said I should come to Favour Hospital, Afasho. I asked what happened to my husband, he said he was alright. My sister Omolara said that because I have a two-month-old baby, she would go in my place. She went there.
“The only thing I know is that when I would later go to that hospital, I was taken to the mortuary, and I saw Fidelis. I wondered what he was doing there, inside the mortuary, lying there. I need to know what happened to my husband.
“When I kept asking, his boss said that he killed himself by drinking sniper at the office. How’s that even possible? Our marriage is just a year old, and we have a two-month-old baby, he is not unhappy. I am not saying Valentine Oyemike killed my husband, I am saying that my husband died at his place of work and has marks on his body, I want to know the truth of how he died.”
Fadeyi described the case as “dicey and critical,” needing the involvement of the police high echelon rather than being left at the whims and caprices of the DPO of Auchi Division.
He said: “We want the IGP to give a marching order so that the mystery behind Fidelis’s death will be unravelled. We have called for the transfer of the case.
“The fact remains that a gentleman whose marriage is just a year old went to work at 1:pm, dashed home at about 2:30 am, saying his boss asked him to come and bring something for him, which is the norm, and then dashed out again, telling his wife not to lock the door, that he was coming back soon.
“The wife dozed off and when she woke up, it was at about 5:a.m, she realised that her husband was not yet back, so she called his line, but he didn’t pick up. She then called his office, Tracy picked up and said that the situation was under control and hung up. Tracy refused to pick up subsequent calls from Fidelis’s wife.
“At about 6:am, Mr Valentine Oyemike called, and asked Esther to come to Favour Hospital, she asked why, and asked what happened to her husband, but no explanation was given to her.
“Her sister, Omolara, asked her to stay back because she was nursing a baby, while Omolara went to the hospital, saw Valentine and repeatedly asked for the whereabouts of Fidelis. Valentine took her to his car, where she saw the dead body of Fidelis.”
It would later be discovered that Oyemike brought Fidelis dead to the hospital and when Omolara examined the corpse, she noticed that there was a dark patch on his chest as if he was tortured. She also noticed bruises and that his trouser was torn.
Fadeyi said: “We understand that the hospital refused Oyemike to deposit Fidelis’s corpse. Someone removed Fidelis’s wedding ring. Oyemike said that Fidelis drank sniper, which means he killed himself, it’s clear he was tortured.
“We strongly believe that Fidelis was in the company of his boss until his death and the circumstances leading to his death are unclear.
“ The Auchi Division DPO is in defence of Oyemike even without carrying out an investigation. The DPO advised Esther’s family to think properly of what they had written as statements, and that he was the only person the IGP would listen to in this case.
“Oyemike and Tracy are walking free, while the Police have made no arrest. Meanwhile, the family of the deceased are consistently invited to the police station.
“We understand Oyemike is an influential personality, having a hotel, restaurant and recreational centre in Auchi, so we called for the transfer of the case. We do not have confidence in Auchi Police Station and its DPO.
“We are not accusing anyone; we just want the authorities to do their job and tell us how Fidelis died. We urge the IGP to handle this matter and bring it to a conclusion so that we can confidently get justice for Esther.”
Omolara said that the disposition of the DPO had been very disappointing. She added: “The DPO said that he and Mr Oyemike were suspecting Esther and I of killing Fidelis. The DPO was always speaking in defence of Mr Oyemike, always stressing that Oyemike is a reputable man. Oyemike had not even come to pay a condolence visit to the family of his deceased employee, who supposedly died at his workplace while working for him!
“The DPO said that if we wanted to do the case, we would spend money, that autopsy alone was N600,000. He kept shutting me up whenever I wanted to speak. Both we are not afraid of investigation, we want the case to be investigated.”
When our reporter contacted the Edo State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Joel Moses in the morning hours of Wednesday 7th August 2024, he said there was going to be a press statement concerning the issue.
However, some hours later, he responded thus: “The matter has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID) for further investigation. The outcome will be made known as soon as the investigation is concluded.”
