A widow from Ekwulobia in Aguata Local Government Area, Anambra State, Chikodili Okeke, has sought the intervention of the Anambra Government over alleged harassment and intimidation she faces from her late husband’s relatives.
She explained that these individuals have subjected her to relentless torment due to her refusal to enter into intimate relationships with some of them.
Okeke voiced her grievances during a recent meeting with the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, at the ministry’s headquarters in Awka.
The widow’s story involves allegations of harassment, intimidation, and the forced seizure of property, a situation she reported personally to the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare.
Recounting her experience, Okeke revealed that her husband, Christopher, had been critically ill while working in Sierra Leone.
He was brought back to Nigeria to receive medical treatment, but instead of supporting his recovery, certain kinsmen began interfering in his affairs.
According to her, this interference escalated when she did not officially inform the family of her husband’s illness, prompting her in-laws to accuse her of negligence. After that, they allegedly banned her from all matters concerning her husband’s medical care.
Okeke said, “My kinsmen, in collaboration with my husband’s sister, bribed and conspired with the doctor treating him and smuggled him out of the hospital to an unknown destination.”
The case was eventually brought to the attention of the police at Zone 13 in Ukpo, where authorities intervened by arresting some of the involved individuals, including the doctor.
The doctor reportedly admitted to receiving a bribe of N100,000 from her husband’s relatives to fabricate a story, blaming her presence for her husband’s deteriorating health.
However, Christopher passed away shortly after this incident, intensifying the hostility Okeke faced from her in-laws.
Following her husband’s death, her in-laws allegedly made life unbearable, denying her access to her husband’s assets, including his properties, shops, and rental income.
She said, “Apart from the fact that the people did not contribute a dime to my husband’s burial, the kinsmen and my husband’s sister also denied me access to most of my husband’s property, including houses and shops where he has tenants, to the point that feeding and paying my children’s school fees became very difficult.”
In a shocking twist, she revealed that the family even invited back her late father-in-law’s ex-wife, who had no children with him, to claim her husband’s assets.
This estranged woman was reportedly brought in to control Okeke’s access to most of her husband’s property.
Reacting, the commissioner condemned the actions as “pure wickedness and ill-conceived,” stressing that they contradict Igbo cultural values and are fundamentally against the principles upheld by Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s administration.
The commissioner assured Okeke that a thorough investigation would be conducted and vowed to pursue justice, with all involved facing the full consequences of the law.
