Three months ago, when Precious Emeh Udoh decided to leave her village, Amaekpu Ohafia, in Abia State, her priority was survival. She was desperate for a new beginning. Life in the village had become so difficult and she needed to take care of her four-year-old daughter.

Feeding was difficult and she wasn’t on good terms with her daughter’s father, Uchena Boko. She decided to migrate to the state capital, Aba, and find work to support herself and her child. Desperate for a new beginning, she relocated to Aba, unto a fatal end.

Precious migrated to Aba in in May and with the help of her cousin and friend, she quickly settled and got a job with a certain Madam Uloma, a restaurateur. Madam Uloma employed her as an attendant to manage one of her lotto shops. Precious would go to the lotto shop in the morning, and at the close of work, she returned to Madam Uloma’s house to sleep. She craved the indulgence of her madam to stay with her four-year-old daughter, and the madam agreed.

Gradually, brilliant spokes of sunlight illumined the dark pall that seemed to cloak her life. Things improved for Udoh; or so it seemed. About a month after her relocation to Aba, she met a man, who declared his love for her.

Less than 48 hours after they met, he proposed marriage to her, promising to take care of her and her baby.

Udoh thought she was lucky. She couldn’t believe her good fortune; being a single mother, she rarely encountered a man who would eagerly marry her and take care of her child. Hers was a pleasant exception, however. Her man was in a hurry to marry her and he was eager to take her home to see his family. Enamoured with her newfound beau, Udoh paid no heed to the counsel of her madam and friend who urged her to take things easy.

According to a source, things went awry for the 23-year-old when her boyfriend called her late one evening asking her to meet him. He also instructed her to come with her baby. Her friend reportedly tried to dissuade her from going out that night, but Precious, clutching her baby, spurned her counsel and left to see her boyfriend that evening. She and her baby never returned.

Worried about her prolonged absence, her friend reported her absence to their madam. All efforts to reach her through her phone proved abortive. Both Udoh and her boyfriend’s numbers were switched off. It was as if they disappeared into thin air with the four-year-old child.

Meanwhile, Madam Uloma came under serious pressure from Udoh’s family and friends. Some even accused her of using Udoh and her daughter for money rituals.

Two months into her disappearance, last Tuesday to be precise, Madam Uloma and Udoh’s cousin were in a commercial tricycle on the Aba-Owerri Road when they saw Udoh’s lover on his red motorcycle. They quickly alighted and raised alarm. The boyfriend was apprehended and taken to the Central Police Station in Aba.

One of those who helped apprehend the suspect was Tochukwu; according to him, “Along Aba-Owerri Road, the cousin and Madam Uloma were going somewhere when they saw the man that took Precious (Udoh). They raised alarm and pursued him with their tricycle. I parked and asked them what the matter was. They explained everything to me. I told them that I would involve the police so that the guy will not run away. I followed them to the Aba Central Police Station (CPS) where the complaint was initially lodged. We started waiting for the Investigating Police Officer (IPO). He came very late. I left and told them I would come back and follow up with the case the next day. I returned to the police station the next day. Initially, the suspect said Precious (Udoh) was in his house and that she was pregnant. He said he would marry her. He made this statement in front of me.

"However, after serious interrogation, he changed his story. He then confessed that Precious was no longer alive and that her four-year-old daughter has been sold. I felt very bad. I was really devastated,” said Tochukwu.

According to him, the suspect later changed his story and alleged that it was Boko, the father of Udoh’s child that contracted him and some others to carry out the job. According to him, the child’s father had told them that he had advised Precious that they should sell the child, but she refused hence he contracted them to help him carry out the job.

The police went to Ohafia to arrest Boko based on the suspect’s confession.

However, speaking with an indigene of Amaekpu familiar with Udoh and Boko, he said Boko had issues with both Precious and the mother. Igwe said:

“Boko is a commercial cyclist. When Precious (Udoh) returned to her mother with his child, he was supporting them financially but the demands became too much for him to shoulder. He told Precious (Udoh) to give him the child so that his family would take care of her while he provided for her upkeep, but she refused. That led to the disagreement between them.”

Efforts to get police reaction to the incident proved abortive as the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Chioma Maureen Chinaka failed to respond to The Nation’s enquiry by press time. (The Nation)

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