Awka
The Transition Committee Chairman of Nnewi North Local Government Area, Hon. Mbazulike Iloka, who was earlier suspended by Governor Chukwuma Soludo over complicity in the death of his wife, Chidiebere Iloka has been arrested.
Iloka, who was sworn in as chairman of the local government area, less than a week before the death of his wife was removed, following allegations of wife battery, which allegedly led to her death.
Iloka had long denied being responsible for the death of his wife, claiming that he had never touched her, and that she slipped and fell, while bringing food to him, hitting her head on a concrete wall.
A source confirmed that the suspended chairman who is popularly known as Mba Mba is currently being detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Awka, Anambra State, under charges of culpable homicide.
His arrest, it was gathered, was as a result of a petition by the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA) on Monday addressed to the Inspector-General of Police Usman Alkali Baba at the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters.
Meanwhile, the Anambra State Police command has confirmed the arrest of Iloka.
The state police command’s spokesperson, DSP Toochukwu Ikenga when contacted, said “He is in our custody now and I urge the members of the public to be patient as the autopsy shall prove the cause of the wife death. Meanwhile investigation is still ongoing.”
Meanwhile, autopsy has been conducted on the corpse of the wife of the suspended Transition Committee Chairman of Nnewi North council area, late Mrs Chidiebele Iloka to determine the actual circumstances surrounding her death.
The government has also set up an investigative panel comprising its officials, medical personnel, representatives of the families of the deceased and the husband, the Commissioner of Police and Nzukora Nnewi.
The autopsy was conducted by a team of pathologists yesterday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, where the body of the deceased was deposited, in the presence of the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Ify Obinabo.
The result is expected to be out in two weeks.
Confirming this to TNC correspondent in Awka, Commissioner Obinabo said the result of the autopsy will bring to an end all the speculations flying around about the incident.
Mrs Obinabo urged women in Anambra and all over the world to remain calm and allow government and the law take its cause, even as she urged family of the deceased to be patient and prayerful and look unto God.
On his part, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike said Governor Chukwuma Soludo is very serious about the outcome of the autopsy, noting that he wants a process that would be very transparent and the truth made open.
Dr Obidike who is part of the team conducting the autopsy prevailed on the professionals to do their best to ensure that all parties involved in the matter is satisfied, adding that the autopsy is not for the dead but for the living to learn.
The lead Pathologist who is representing Anambra state government, Dr Gerald Forae, from the University of Benin Teaching hospital, assured that the result of the autopsy which lasted for three hours, will be out in two weeks.
“When released, the result will pass through the right process and would be submitted to the state government through the Attorney General of the state,” he disclosed.
