By Adadareporters
One Enuwa Odugu, 48, a native doctor, and Uwakwe Eze, 67, have been apprehended by the Enugu State Police Command for allegedly conspiring and murdering one Chikwado Celestine Eze, 26.
Chikwado, Eze’s son, died at the native doctor’s shrine during fortification with charms. He was taken for the exercise by his father, our correspondent reports.
It was earlier reported on social media that the deceased got a visa to travel overseas, and his father had taken him to the native doctor’s shrine for charms to make his journey successful when the incident occurred.
A post on Facebook had read, “Chikwado Eze was bùrièd alive for fortification, and he died in the process. Chikwado’s visa was out, and he went to his village Ugbaike in Igbo-Eze North LGA in Enugu State to inform his father, but his father suggested they visit a native doctor for fortification so that he will be successful abroad.
“They got to Enuwa, the native doctor, who said that Chikwado should be buried d alive for 1hr30 minutes after which he will be exhùmèd. After 1hr30mins, they exhùmèd him, and he was dead already.
“Police came and arrested his father, Uwakwe, and the native doctor. What a, sad story!”
The Enugu State Police Command’s PPRO, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, confirmed this in a release.
According to him, “The incident is alleged to have occurred when Uwakwe Eze took his son to the native doctor’s shrine for rituals intended to fortify him with charms. However, during the ritual, the deceased was buried in a coffin but he unfortunately died in the process.
“He was rushed to the hospital and confirmed dead by the attending doctor, and his body deposited in the mortuary for preservation and autopsy.”
Ndukwe said the native doctor confessed to the crime and the previous performance of such rituals, attributing the death of the victim to his non-adherence to certain ritualistic rules he earlier prescribed for him.
The case is under investigation, and the suspects will be arraigned in court once investigations are concluded, he added.
In a similar incident, the police in the state have arrested one Okoro Chukwuebuka Kingsley, 24, and Ogbonna Samuel Chiedozie, 18, for allegedly conspiring and murdering 52-year-old Mrs Patience Nkem Charles.
According to the PPRO, the crime was motivated by a grudge Kingsley held from his time as her former security guard in 2021.
“The suspects confessed to strangling the victim in her home, leading to their arrest through police intelligence,” Ndukwe said, adding that they had already been arraigned in court and remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Custodial Centre.
“Both cases showcase serious criminal activities linked to personal grievances and harmful traditional practices, with the police actively investigating and prosecuting those involved,” he stated.
