BY CHIDI NKWOPARA
OWERRI — THE Imo State Police Command has
recovered the remains of a 78-year-old woman,
Mrs. Lucy Osigweh, who was declared missing in
2003.
Making the revelation, yesterday, state’s
Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed Katsina,
disclosed that the woman’s lifeless body was found
in a large cupboard inside a shrine located in her
son’s private room.
Katsina said: “The missing woman’s lifeless body
was found in a village called Ezuru Umuagwu,
Ejemekwuru, Oguta Local Government Area of Imo
State.”
According to him, “the corpse of the 78-year-old
Mrs. Osigweh, earlier declared missing in 2003,
was found in a large cupboard inside a shrine of a
private room in a circumstance depicting ritual
practice.
“The embalmed body, which was kept in that
condition for about 10 years, was believed to have
been placed in the warehouse by her son, Chief
Chimezie Osigweh, a 64-year-old retired school
principal.”
The Imo police boss said there was every reason to
believe that the late woman’s son is a member of a
sect, adding: “Preliminary assessment of the scene
of crime revealed that the late woman must have
been murdered by her son for ritual purpose.”
Katsina also said members of the sect used to hold
secret nocturnal meetings in the place to enhance
their occultic powers.
“The principal suspect, Chief Chimezie Osigweh,
who is the son of the woman, has been arrested
and is making useful statement to the police,” the
CP said.
Although Katsina did not say how the police got
wind of the crime, feelers from the late woman’s
maiden home, Amakohia, Awa, Oguta local council
area, showed that they made the startling
discovery.
A villager, who spoke on grounds of anonymity,
said that angered by the unresolved and
inexplicable disappearance of their relation from
her marital home, some villagers decided to double
check earlier stories bandied by Osigweh.
According to a villager, “on getting to Ejemekwuru,
our people demanded to know why their relations
had remained missing for 10 years. Her son told
our villagers that his mother was mad at a point
and ran away to unknown place.
“Apparently not satisfied with the response, as well
as the nonchalant attitude allegedly exhibited by
her son, the villagers went beserk, destroying
things in sight and ended up spotting the large
cupboard containing the remains of their loved one.
“With this startling discovery, the villagers quickly
lodged a complaint with the police who
subsequently swung into action.”

Source: vanhuard 14/05/2013