Rita Akpaka’s Mysterious Death: Family Names Individuals, Institutions Obstructing Justice

Members of the Akpaka family of Umueze, Nimo, in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State have continued to cry out for justice over the mysterious death of their sister, Mrs. Rita Ugwuegbulam (nee Akpaka), as well as seeking explanations over a mysterious abdominal incision later discovered on her body.

The family is also accusing certain persons and institutions of plotting tirelessly to obstruct justice in the suspected murder of the deceased.

The petitions seen by this reporter indicate that the entities which the bereaved family are making accusations against are the  Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), men and officers of the Nigerian Police Force Enugu State Police Command (Homicide Department), Dr. S.A.R. Ohayi of Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, and Dr. Victor A. Osiatuma of Federal Medical Centre Asaba.

The deceased person, Rita, who was married to one Raymond Ugwuegbulam, was said to have died under suspicious circumstances on May 22, 2015, at her matrimonial home in Enugu. It is the suspicion of the bereaved family that their in-law, Mr. Ugwuegbulam, may have had a hand in the death of their sister in view of certain alleged actions and inactions of his, prior to and after his wife’s death.

Since then, the brothers to the deceased have relentlessly battled to win justice for her, all to no avail, more than seven years after the death.

Intrigues over autopsy

According to the bereaved family, they had demanded some explanations from their brother-in-law, Mr. Ugwuegbulam, regarding what they considered suspicious circumstances around his wife (their sister’s) death, but he was not forthcoming with any reasonable explanation. A letter written by the family to their said in-law was sighted by this reporter. Dated May 25, 2015 and signed by the four Akpaka brothers (John, Mike, Chris and Joe), the letter demanded, among others, that Mr. Ugwuegbulam furnish his in-laws with the report of a medical diagnosis which he said had proved that his deceased wife was pregnant instead of having a suspected fibroid growth in her womb. This includes a copy of a supposed CT scan which he was said to have promised to give to one of his in-laws, Chris, but never did.