CEHRAWS calls on Abia to intervene in attack on Item widow, plot to bribe authorities
By Charity Uwakwe
The Centre for Human Rights Advocacy and Wholesome Society (CEHRAWS) has expressed utter indignation over what it described as the vicious and coordinated attacks, destruction of property, and subsisting threats to the life of Mrs. Esther Onuoha, a 52-year-old indigent woman from Uzo Mkporo, Apanu village in Item community, Bende Local Government Area of Abia State.
According to a statement signed by Comrd. Okoye, Chuka Peter, on behalf of CEHRAWS, and issued to Famousreporters.com, today, Wednesday, July 9, the organisation decried the unlawful ejection of the widow from her
late mother’s home and brutal assault on the latter Chief Igwe Ukoma, a prominent businessman.
The statement alleged that Ukoma connived with twelve others, (name withheld) to perpetrate the nefarious act, “in blatant disregard for her constitutional and inheritance rights as a woman”.
The release read in part:
“According to verified reports, the perpetrators, emboldened by the victim’s lack of male protection and her vulnerable status, mobilized and violently dispossessed her of the property, looted valuables worth over ₦3.2 million, and subjected her to physical abuse, threats of death, and cultural ostracization. They even went as far as removing the apartment’s roof, doors, and windows in an act of calculated cruelty.
“What is more alarming is that CEHRAWS has received disturbing intelligence that these perpetrators are now boasting openly that they will bribe their way through the police and judiciary to frustrate justice. This is not only a direct threat to the credibility of the Abia State justice system but a tragic indictment of our collective failure to protect vulnerable citizens, especially women and widows, from traditional and systemic violence.
These acts violate multiple provisions of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended), including:
✓ Section 34: Right to dignity and freedom from inhuman treatment;
✓ Section 42: Freedom from discrimination based on gender or circumstances of birth;
✓ Section 43: Right to own immovable property anywhere in Nigeria.
It further violates the Abia State Female Persons Right of Inheritance Law (2022) and offends the judicial precedent in Ukeje v. Ukeje (2014) LPELR-22724(SC), where the Supreme Court outlawed any custom that excludes women from inheriting family property.
Continuing, the Organisation implored the wife of the Governor, Priscilla Otti to, through her office, mediate in the dehumanising actions meted out to the indigent woman, as well as other vulnerable women in rural communities in rural communities across the state.
In their words:
“We, therefore, call on:
“Her Excellency, Mrs. Priscilla Otti, Wife of the Executive Governor of Abia State, to use her esteemed office and moral voice to stand for justice and the protection of Mrs. Esther Onuoha and other vulnerable women in rural communities;
“The Commissioner for Women Affairs, Abia State GBV Response Team, FIDA and other stakeholders in the civil society and legal ecosystem, to rise in unison and demand the immediate arrest and prosecution of the culprits;
“The Nigeria Police Force, particularly the Abia State Command and Zone 9 Headquarters, to reject any overture of bribery, act swiftly and impartially, and restore faith in the justice process.
“Mrs. Esther Onuoha’s continued displacement, fear for her life, and denial of inheritance rights speak volumes of the dangers women still face in asserting their rights in traditional communities.
“Justice delayed in this matter would not only be justice denied, it would be justice corrupted.”
Signed,
Okoye, Chuka Peter
For: CEHRAWS
0803 552 9865 | ✉ cehraws@gmail.com
