Women protest over mysterious death of 5 family members in Neke community 

….. demand full investigation 

Our Reporter 

Women in their great numbers at the weekend protested over the mysterious death of five family members in Akpani village in Neke community, Isi-Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State.

The women, however called for a proper investigations into the circumstances surrounding the death of five family members in Akpani village of the community.

The women expressed their anger by protesting along the major roads of the community. 

They were carrying leaf branches and chanting songs of grievances marched to the palace of the traditional ruler of Emeora Neke autonomous community, Igwe Silas Chinedu Odo Udeogu to register their grief.

The Nations News reports that one  Barnabas, Ikeze, his wife Nkechinyere and four of their children had their dinner on Saturday the thirtieth of August and started having stomach upset which resulted in rushing  them to a health facility in a neighbouring community of Ikem for medical attention.

An Eyewitness report indicates that the facility could not stabilize them for possible transfer to a better equipped health facility  before five of them  gave up the ghost.

It was reported that the late Barnabas and one of his kinsmen had allegedly in the previous week had an altercation during their kindred meeting, where the said kinsman allegedly threatened to deal with Mr Barnabas and his family.

Unfortunately, the said kinsman and one other showed up at the health facility where they were taken to which raised suspicion that led to subsequent arrest.

The women during the protest accused the hospital of complicity in the death of Mr Barnabas and his family members and called on Enugu State government and other relevant bodies to ensure that justice is done on the matter.

While addressing the women who thronged his palace, Igwe Udeogu commended them for their peaceful conduct and urged them to exercise restraint as the matter has been transferred to the State Command Headquarters of the Nigeria Police for further proper investigation.

The traditional ruler further called on government and other good citizens of the community to assist in conducting autopsy to determine the possible cause of the sudden sickness and subsequent death.

Earlier, delegates from Amede Eha-Amufu, from where Barnabas’ wife was married staged a peaceful protest at the Igwe’s palace in Neke, demanding to see their daughter.

They carried placards with inscriptions such as ‘We are here to see our sister Nkechinyere and her children’, ‘Ndi Neke, Amede wants to see their daughter’, etc.

The Nations News further reports that as at the time of filing this report, it was gathered that the only child that was transferred to a higher facility in Enugu was responding to treatment.