WHEN Mr
Emmanuel Uchenna Udeh (aka Tootoo) relocated from Aba, Abia State to Togo to
do business some years ago, expectations were high. As the only male child of
his aged parents, he had great hopes that he would do well there and take care
of them.
Those who
knew him said he was a hardworking and easy going youngman. Steadiy, his rug
business grew even as he fell in love with a Togolese girl. And to demonstrate
his love for the lady, he opened a shop for her and filled it with goods. At
32, marriage was on his mind.
However, the
bubble burst last month and Emmanuel’s plans went up in smoke just like his
body.
Indeed, for
the Michael Udeh family of Ejighinandu village, Awka Etiti in Idemili South
Local Government Area of Anambra State, these are, certainly, not the best of
times. Wicked fate, like a mad bull in a china shop, recently attacked the
family in a heart rending manner, destroying its priceless possession. On June
30, 2016, the family was drowned in the ocean of anguish and sorrow. Emmanuel
was murdered that fateful day, in Togo.
Worse still,
Emmanuel died in a most dehumanising manner. He was killed in the manner of the
four University of Port Harcourt students in 2012. He was burnt alive allegedly
through the conspiracy of his pregnant live-in lover. He was stripped naked and
clubbed to unconsciousness before a crowd. Then they hung a tyre on him and roasted
him like a sacrifice for the gods. His aged father is thoroughly devastated
while his bed-ridden mother has not been informed because, according to his
cousin, Mr Chukwuka Ezenwaka, “if she hears this kind of news, she will die.”
Why he was
killed
Emmanuel
died on the altar of love gone awry. Take this from Ezenwaka: “It happened that
he impregnated a lady in Togo. According to eye witnesses, he really loved the
girl and wanted to marry her. In fact, they were living together and he even
opened a shop for her. But along the line, they had a little misunderstanding.
You know, as a man, you are supposed to act or react. But instead of the lady
pleading or begging, the quarrel continued. So, he told the lady that she will
leave and that he will go and pack the things in the shop. Instead of the lady
to ask for forgiveness, she ganged up with her brothers and they laid ambush
for Emmanuel. They killed him by stoning and hitting him with clubs. Later they
set him ablaze. He was the only son of his father and had only one sister. His
parents are too old and the mother cannot even walk again.
“His corpse
has been retrieved and deposited in a mortuary in Togo. Arrangements are being
made to bring his remains home. We are appealing to the Nigerian government to
step into the matter because the way they are killing Nigerians outside the
country is getting out of hand. He did not steal or violate the laws of the
land. He only had issues with his girlfriend which is normal. Even husbands and
wives quarrel.
“They ganged
up and attacked the boy on the way. The Igbo community in Togo is trying to
raise money to pay the hospital bills so that the corpse can be retrieved.”
Another
source said that the lady claimed that she didn’t know that her brothers would
kill Emmanuel.
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