Abia First Lady visits woman whose husband attempted to pluck out eyes, assures justice
The First Lady of Abia state, Mrs Priscilla Otti has kicked against domestic and gender based violence as she visits Mrs. Amarachi Lawrence, whose husband allegedly attempted plucking out her two eyes and matcheting her in Umuahia.
Mr Lawrence Uzor, an aluminium worker from Umuchieze in Bende LGA of the state, allegedly commited the act at about 1am when the wife was asleep at their residence in Adiele Estate in Umueze Ibeku in Umuahia North.
Uzor who is believed to have assaulted the wife for ritual purposes, also attacked his landlady with a machete when she attempted to intervene.
Visiting the victims at Federal Medical Centre, FMC Umuahia on Monday, Mrs Otti assured that all necessary measures are being taken to ensure that the victims recover very well and also gets justice.
She harped on the need for security agencies to enforce laws to protect women and girls from gender-based violence.
The First Lady stated;
” investigations are still in progress, the husband could not have acted alone, the state is dedicated to uncovering the truth, promising that everyone implicated will face the full weight of the law”.
She emphasized the important role of community involvement in addressing gender-based violence (GBV) and praised Emede community youths led by Eze Allen Okpokiri, for their quick response in apprehending the culprit and reporting the case.
Mrs Otti also made cash donation for the medical upkeep of the victims.
Speaking earlier on chances of Mrs Uzor who is a private school teacher seeing again, the director of nursing services FMC, Mrs. Onyemaobi Aisha said it will be determined after she recovers.
Giving an eyewitness account, the landlady of the couple, Mrs. Lovejane Nwiwu, said;
“About 10 pm on Saturday, I heard the man shouting ‘Odogwu, Odogwu (mighty, mighty)’. I was worried as I had not heard the man and his wife, Amarachi Lawrence praying like that.
“I started praying for them. After that. I couldn’t sleep up to about 12 am and was restless. At about 1 am, the wife, who is a teacher with one of the foremost private schools in the Umuahia and aged 38 years started shouting, ‘Mummy, I have been killed’. I opened my door, came out peeped through their bedroom window and saw the man pressed down on the wife with a knife in his hands.
“I started pushing on people’s gates and calling out to Umueze people, but nobody came out or responded. After all, my attempts to call neighbours to come and nobody answered me, I went to their parlour door and started knocking on the door and suddenly, he opened the door while holding the knife and tried giving me cuts on the head but I defended my head with my hand and he cut me at the hand and further slashed the knife at my face that incidentally cut me at the mouth and many of my upper teeth came out.
“I ran into my house and locked the door, while he ran outside, locked our gate and went to a neighbour’s house to tell them that he had killed his wife and his landlord’s wife. While inside my room, I called my mother and my daughter, who then called a church neighbour and the community vigilance team who rushed to the neighbour’s house and apprehended him.”
Also the head of the community neighborhood watch, Mr. Ambrose Jonah, mentioned that he received a report stating that Mr. Lawrence had complained to his friend named Odogwu that his wife has been unable to get pregnant after one year of their marriage.
The said Odogwu took him to a prayer house in Aba, after which he returned, performed some sacrifices, and became abnormal.
This led to him reciting incantations and attempting to murder his wife.
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