Obiano calls on FG to probe death of Nigerian woman, Ndubuisi-Chukwu, in South Africa

 

Anambra State governor, Willie Obiano, Monday called on the Federal Government to investigate the alleged murder of Mrs. Obianuju Ndubuisi-Chukwu in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Obiano, in a statement issued by the Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr. Don Adinuba, urged the Federal Government to prevail on the South African government to act decisively over the murder of the Nigerian woman, who was the Deputy Director General of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN).

Ndubuisi-Chukwu was found dead in her Emperor Palace Hotel room on Thursday, June 13.

She was reported to have died while attending a meeting of the African Insurance Organisation in the South African commercial capital.

Obiano said: “It has become necessary to request the SGF to personally wade into the killing.

“The police in Johannesburg may be capitalising on the absence of a foreign minister in Nigeria to treat the case with levity.”

According to him, there was report on the death of the 53-year-old indigene of Anambra State, which suggested that the South African police were treating this murder as just another Nigerian’s death.

“It is disheartening that more than three weeks after the dastardly act, the South African police have not deemed it necessary to investigate the heinous crime with the seriousness it deserves.

“Ndubuisi-Chukwu was not an ordinary person, but a top corporate executive who was billed to become chief executive of her organisation in 2020.

“She was representing Nigeria at the meeting in Johannesburg, where she met her untimely death,” the governor said.

He said that although the South African Department of Home Affairs had in an autopsy report said that Ndubuisi-Chukwu was strangulated, it was not true.

He described the autopsy report as contradicting an earlier version of the report that suggested that she might have died in her sleep or committed suicide.

Obiano suggested that the South African Police should carryout proper investigation to unearth the person or persons who entered her room after her attendance at the farewell dinner held on Wednesday, June 12.

“The job has been made easier now because Emperor Palace Hotel has agreed to release the CCTV footage to them,” he added.

Obiano commended Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, former Chairman, Nigerian Human Rights Commission, on the effort being made to ensure justice is done in memory of Ndubuisi-Chukwu, mother of two boys.