By Steve Oko, UMUAHIA
The Abia State Police Command, said it had launched investigation into the death of one Joseph Urum, an employee of Do Good Farm, Abiriba, Ohafia Local Government Area of the state, vowing to unravel the truth behind the death.
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This is as the doctor who attended to the deceased before he died, said about three litres of pus were extracted from his abdomen.
Meanwhile, the paramount traditional ruler of Abiriba ancient kingdom, HRM Eze Kalu Kalu Ogbu (Enachoken Abiriba IV), has sued for peace, and demanded justice for both the deceased and the owner of the multi-million piggery farm.
Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Abia State, Maureen Chilaka, told Vanguard that some suspects had been taken into custody over the matter.
The PPRO said personnel of the State Criminal Investigation Department, CID, handling the matter, had already visited the hospital where the deceased died, and dropped a letter for the doctor on the history of treatment given to the late Joseph.
She said:”We are aware of the matter. Investigations are on-going. We have been to the hospital where he died and dropped a letter with the doctor on treatment history before and after his death. Once we gather reasonable facts, we shall know if there is need for autopsy.”
Recall that after the death of Joseph on February 26, 2025, his fellow workers – Oko Ukaegbu, Pastor Ejemole Ukaegbu, Maduka, Bassey, were arrested and detained by the police following allegations that he died in a questionable circumstance.
As suspicion and controversy continued to build over the matter, youths of the community reportedly threatened to burn down the piggery farm.
Meanwhile, the owner of the multi-million piggery farm, Mrs Onyinye Urum Ukaegbu Ibe, based in the United States of America, petitioned the Inspector General of Police, seeking his intervention, and calling for thorough investigation into the matter.
The US-based investor and step-aunty of the deceased said she established the farm to assist her relations at home.
She expressed bewilderment over the various allegations and controversies trailing the death of Joseph, her step sister’s son.
She dismissed the allegations as false and a veiled ploy to destroy her investments.
Distancing herself from the death of the deceased, she called for autopsy to ascertain the actual cause of the death.
Mother, siblings of the deceased seek justice
The mother of the deceased, Mrs Jane Agwu Nmaju (nee Urum); his elder sister, Mrs Nne Ejituru; and younger sister, Mrs Ruth Uchechukwu, have demanded justice for the late Joseph.
The trio who spoke with newsmen in Umuahia, raised suspicion over the circumstances surrounding Joseph’s death, and demanded explanations from those who took him to hospital.
They said Joseph, prior to his death, was not complaining of any ailments, and called for autopsy to unravel the actual cause of his death.
“We don’t know what killed him. Those who were taking him round hospitals should explain to us. We want justice for him. How can he be sick at Abiriba only to be taken to Mbaise hospital to die?”
The mother of six who said she lives in Bayelsa, demanded explanations on why her son would be rushed to the hospital and surgery allegedly conducted on him without the consent of any close family member.
“They ought to have called to inform us and seek our consent before the surgery”, one of the daughters added.
Joseph’s mother who said she is the eldest in her paternal Urum family, also expressed annoyance that she was prevented from seeing Joseph’s corpse at the mortuary where she was reportedly told she could only see him after seven days of embalment.
Narrating their grief, her daughter, Nne, said:”My mother said they contacted her and asked her to agree so that Joseph could be operated on. They knew she lives in Bayelsa and it would take some time for her to arrive. Then when she told them that her daughter (Ruth) lives in Umuahia, and would join them soon, they said they were at Mbaise.
“The next they said was that he was dead. Then, when my mother came with some family members they said he had been deposited in the mortuary and that his corpse cannot be seen until after seven days.
“So, we became surprised and suspicious. How can our brother be that sick and surgery conducted on him without our consent? Ejimole who is my mother’s step-brother ought to have told us before taking my brother to Mbaise”, Mrs Ejituru fumed.
Corroborating this account, her sister Ruth said:”When my mother told me Joseph was sick, I got to the hospital at Mbaise around 9am on February 26 and saw him on a surgical table and knew he was already lifeless. The hospital was like a shop.
“I saw that my brother already had a tear in his abdomen. I inquired from the doctor what happened. He said they didn’t run any test on him. I said: Why will they operate on him just like that? By mere looking at him, he was just lifeless. I knew he was already dead but it wasn’t I that would pronounce him dead. The doctor said his intestines were like something that was cooked.
“I told the doctor it was unfortunate he could do that kind of surgery without test or scan. I became angry and stepped out. Within 15 minutes the doctor came out and said he was done and that the operation was successful.
“After the operation, he left for about three hours. We became worried and I asked the nurse, and she said the doctor was coming. Ejimole was busy making calls”.
My story – Dr. Alexander Ohanyere
Meanwhile, when Vanguard visited Evergreen Hospital & Maternity, Onicha Ezinihitte Mbaise, Imo State, where the deceased died, the Proprietor, Dr Alexander Ohanyere, said he tried his best to save him but without success.
“I tried to give him the best services; I took some desperate measures to save him but, unfortunately they didn’t work”.
He explained that the patient was rushed to his hospital around 1:00am as an emergency case, and he tried to stabilize him before he would be wheeled into the theater for surgery but regretted that he died while efforts were still on to stabilize him.
“I got a call from a patient I had treated before, saying they had an emergency situation. So, when they came, it was already a contaminated case. I told them that the patient can’t go to the theatre due to his condition. He lacked blood, and the scan result he came with showed the intestines were perforated.
“He also had low blood pressure. We needed to stabilize him first before any surgery could be conducted on him. After some times the kidneys stopped working.
“As we kept making efforts to revive him, I noticed massive water in his abdomen. Then the quick intervention was to drain the massive water in his abdomen. I was amazed to see pus in his abdomen.
“For the abdomen to be that rotten, it means it had been bad for some weeks.
So, I removed about 10 milligram of fluid and he reacted positively to show he had relief. Then I brought a bucket and removed about three litres of pus from his abdomen.”
Responding to a question, the Family Physician who read at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, UNN, said ruptured appendicitis, low immunity, among others, could possibly cause such situation.
Asked if he conducted any surgery on the organs of the deceased as being rumoured, Dr Ohanyere answered to the contrary, saying he did not go beyond “extracting the mass fluid in his abdomen”.
Dr Ohanyere said anyone in doubt of what happened should call for autopsy.
Meanwhile, a Doctor at Abiriba General Hospital, Dr Joshua Okereke, where the late Joseph was first taken to, said he noticed the seriousness of the matter and referred him immediately to the Federal Medical Centre, FMC Umuahia where the facilities to handle him were available.
According to him, the patient manifested symptoms of acute abdomen which required surgical emergency within 24 hours, hence his decision to refer him to a tertiary hospital for adequate attention.
“We don’t have the facility to handle him here. So, within 20 minutes, I had referred him to the FMC that has everything needed to manage his situation.
“Acute abdomen means something is wrong inside the abdominal cavity. It could be intestinal obstruction or a hole, or ulcer that has eaten the stomach. The sickness was not like something that came suddenly. Looking at him you will see he has been sick.”
Dr Okereke wondered why he (doctor) had to be subjected to police interrogation, having referred the deceased to a higher hospital without delays.
“I’m surprised that police are involving us. The patient left here alive but very sick. Whatever happened to him later, I was not aware.”
Farm employee speaks
One of the employees of the Do Good Farm, Mrs Confidence Nduka, told Vanguard that the deceased usually complained of loss of appetite, and would avoid his meals and rather take ‘tea’ in lieu of solid food.
She said that the deceased who was recruited towards the end of January 2025, had no issues with any co-worker, wondering where the allegation of murder was coming from.
Other staff of the farm narrated how some of the workers now in detention assisted in rushing the deceased to the hospital when he complained of stomach ache, expressing shock that anybody could come up with murder allegation.
Nnanna Urum Ukaegbu, who said the deceased was a member of their extended family, narrated how their sister based in the US established the farm to assist the family.
He said it sounded strange for anyone to allege murder after frantic efforts were made by the arrested co-workers to save the life of the deceased.
On why the deceased was rather taken to a clinic at Mbaise in Imo State instead of FMC Umuahia, a tertiary hospital where he was referred to by the doctor at Abiriba general hospital, it was said that he was allegedly told at FMC “to come back in the morning due to lack of space.”
The detained co-workers were quoted to have said that they got to FMC but were not attended to , and in their desperation to save the life of their brother , decided to go to Mbaise hospital based on recommended by a friend whom the doctor had once treated while practicing in Enugu.
They were said to have been told at the emergency unit to return in the morning because “there was no space.”
The source said that in their desperation to save Joseph who was not admitted at FMC, somebody suggested that they should contact the doctor at Mbaise who treated him some years ago at Enugu.
When contacted for a response, the Public Relations Officer, PRO, of FMC Umuahia, Chief Darlington Madubuko, said the Management of the hospital would investigate the claims.
The PRO explained that sometimes if there were no bed space to admit a patient brought at odd hour at the emergency unit, the patient could be asked to come when there would be space.
Asked why a patient brought under emergency should be turned back for lack of bed space, the PRO said that the policy was adopted due to blackmail as people were posting on the social media, images of patients being attended to on the floor.
He said: ”Remember that there was no record to prove that the person you are referring to was our patient since he was not admitted. But we will investigate the matter.
“If the time they arrived was too late, and there was no bed space at the emergency unit, there is no way he would be admitted. We were admitting before even when there was no bed space but people started posting photos of patients on the floor to blackmail us”.
He explained that the hospital is usually overcrowded due to high patronage by patients from neighbouring states of Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Imo and Rivers States.
The PRO, however, said that the current management of the hospital was making spirited efforts to address the challenge of infrastructure, hinting that the new emergency building it embarked on would soon be ready.
“We are building a new emergency unit and it will soon be ready. There’s massive infrastructural development with new equipment by the current management to make sure we give the best of services”.
The Chief Medical Director, CMD, Professor Azubuike Onyebuchi told Vanguard that the new Emergency building “which is triple the existing one” would be opened by the first week of April as he had just secured approval to engage 35 new nurses to boost the manpower team.
He said that the challenge of crowded bed space would have been addressed by the time the new complex becomes operational.
Monarch
Meanwhile, the paramount traditional ruler of Abiriba ancient kingdom, HRM Eze Kalu Kalu Ogbu (Enachoken Abiriba IV), said peace had been restored to the area following his intervention.
He said that when he heard about the matter, he invited both parties to the palace for arbitration but decided to hand the matter over to the police for proper investigation due to the heavy allegations involved.
“ When I heard of the matter I invited all the parties. The siblings of the deceased told us that their brother died in questionable circumstances. So, I invited the police, and told the police: This is your area. Go and investigate and find out what happened. I’m very sure police know what to do.”
The monarch also said he had stopped an attempt by irate locals to burn down the farm, arguing that it is not proper to destroy ones property based on mere allegations.
“By then, tension was already rising in the community. They were thinking of how to burn down the farm but I said it was not proper to destroy somebody’s investment because of allegations. So, in the interim, I asked them to put palm fronds there to allow for partial operations in the farm. We learnt there are animals in the farm and if you lock it down they will all die.
“There are no more threats. Once we handed over the matter to the police, both families have been cooperating.”
Enachoken said his concern was justice for both the deceased and the owner of the farm.
“‘I want justice for the deceased; I want justice for the owner of the farm. After police investigations, whoever is at fault, we will know, and start addressing the fault. We don’t want another person to die. We will continue to do our best to ensure there is peace. I want peace in my community. Both parties are my subjects”.
On the rumour that some youths are threatening that the deceased would be buried on the farm, an action considered as a ploy to take over the farm from the owner, Enachoken there was no basis for such thinking.
“ We don’t address rumour. But if there is any reason for that the family will come to the community. They can’t decide that on their own. The issue of where to bury him has not arisen. If at the end of the day, he died of natural cause, why should anyone go and bury him in the farm?
“If the police are through with investigation, we will call all the parties again at the palace and tell them what to do”, Enachoken said.
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