A widow, Mercy Nnah, from Iton Ikono, in the Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, has called on the wife of Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mrs. Martha Emmanuel, the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Dr Gloria Edet, and other relevant agencies to come to her aid after losing her 18-year-old daughter, Miss Gift Nnah, to hoodlums.

According to the widow, every attempt to get justice through the police has proved abortive, despite the fact that the police have extort money from her.


 
Mercy, a mother of five, including the deceased, who lost her husband in 2003, has been the breadwinner of the family through her bean cake (akara) business.

She told Southern City News on Sunday in her one-room rented apartment that she parted with N10,000 before she was taken to Ikpatex mortuary at Ibesikpo, where her daughter was deposited and the spot where she was thrown out of a tricycle.

The widow said she had repeatedly cautioned her 18-years-old daughter, who was an SS II student of Christian Secondary School, Uyo, against associating with members of the opposite sex.

She added that her late daughter had on the day of her death gone out without informing her to get her mobile phone from a male friend who had earlier taken  the phone for repairs.

“Late in the evening, around 9pm, we received a  call. The caller introduced himself as a police officer and asked us to come to Owot Uta Village in Ibesikpo LGA, that my daughter had an accident.

“Early in the morning the next day, we succeeded in calling the number again and we were asked to come to the police station.

“There, we met a tricycle rider whose name was given simply as Ntiense. He claimed that he was hired by three passengers along Aka Road, Uyo, to Ibesikpo, the two male passengers, according to him were unknown, but the female passenger was my daughter.

“The tricycle man further told me that he heard someone fell out of the vehicle as they were going and when he turned to check, he was ordered at gun point to keep moving. He claimed to have taken refuge in someone’s house after being threatened to park his tricycle and run away.

“On his return to pick up his tricycle, the landlady of the compound suspected him and raised the alarm, which alerted community members, who invited and handed him over to the police,” she said.

The bereaved mother explained that her daughter’s friend, Mr. Simeon Friday, who she allegedly went to see claimed they parted ways earlier in the evening after handing over the phone to her.

Friday, according to her, had been remanded in prison custody alongside Ntiense.

The woman, who expressed lack of confidence in the police noted that the police, who earlier advised her to seek an out-of-court settlement, later charged the case to court.

According to her, she does not understanding what was going on, and does not have the finances to fund further issues as may be demanded by the police or court.

“I live in one room with the children; as I speak with you now, the landlord has asked us to pack out. I lost my husband since 2003 and I have no one to speak for me. I have no money to settle the mortuary bills or buy coffin to bury my daughter,” she said.

She stated that the doctor, who had explained the autopsy result to her at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, said the daughter, as revealed by the report was badly hit, with her tongue out, before being thrown out of the tricycle.

An elder sister of the bereaved, Miss Idara Nnah, said, “Simeon called my sister to come and get her phone at the junction; we went out together, but did not see him there.

“He later called my sister, who went out alone to meet him, only for the police to call to talk about accident. I called the guy she went out with and he told me he was equally called and was already there with her.

“When I met him the next day to move with him to the police station, he said he could not get to where my sister was that night, for fear of being arrested by the police, who were all over the area. He claimed that he had to lie to us so that we may not be overly worried.”

When contacted, the IPO in charge of the case, who pleaded anonymity, said he was not in position to speak on the matter, but merely mentioned that the murder case had been charged to court and the case file forwarded to the DPP.