The family of late Abimbola Ogbonna, wife of celebrity Lagos auto dealer, Ikechukwu Ogbonna, popularly known as IVD is seeking justice for the deceased alleging a cover-up in the way and manner the Police is handling the case.
Late Abimbola alledgedly died of burns sustained during an alleged domestic violence incident at their home in Lekki, Lagos.
They are appealing to the Lagos State Government and the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution, to review the case of the deceased and ensure proper charge is preferred against anyone found culpable in the circumstances leading to the death of Mrs. Ogbonna.
Also, the deceased family also urged the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State and the entire Police formation to resist the temptation of being used by Ikechukwu Ogbonna and his godfather, retired Assistant Inspector General, who was a former Commissioner of Police in Lagos State to harass, intimidate, humiliate and further arrest or detain the deceased mother; Mrs. Ebele Comfort Martins and the entire family members henceforth.
These requests were made know at a press briefing in Lagos on Wednesday through the family’s legal practitioner, Mr. Odiana Eriata Esq.
According to the lawyer, late Abimbola Ogbonna’s family reiterated that any issue of domestic violence should be investigated and appropriate sanctions be taken.
Eriata hinted that the deceased before her death had petitioned the Police over attempted murder, assault occasioning harm, wounding, conduct likely to cause breach of peace, domestic violence and threat to her life by her husband.
In the petition to Assistant Inspector General of Police Zone 2 Headquarters, Onikan, Lagos, made available to CASEFILE, which was dated 6th October, 2022, and signed by Abimbola Bobby Martins, (Abimbola Ogbonna) she alleges, “For the past fifteen years, I have been married to Ikechukwu Ogbonna, I with my children have not seen peace with him, everyday is a hell to me and my children. Sir, it is pertinent to state here that the said Ikechukwu beat me all the time like a baby slave, as if my family use me to borrow money from him. When I open my cloth sir and show my body to you, it is incomplete body with wound and injuries all over sustained from the beating maltreatment I received from him everyday.
“Some few weeks ago he brought out his gun and threatening to shoot me, I was save with the help of my Estate neighbour.
“I reported this incident at Ajah Police Station and the police invited him and refuse to report and all the police station including the DPO worship him.
“Anytime there is misunderstanding between me and him, he always break bottle on me or he will go for a knife and he cut me with it.
“I urge you sir to use your good office to wade into this matter by recovering the gun he use in threatening me and bring him to book for justice to prevail,” the late Mrs. Abimbola Ogboona concluded in her petition to the Police.
The legal practitioner expressed dissatisfaction at the charge of negligence activated before the magistrate court 7 in Charge No.H/43/2022 at Lagos Magistrate court in Yaba in a matter that involves death of late Mrs. Abimbola Ogbonna and the husband being fingered as the prime suspect.
He said that the State must do the needful in order to avert future occurrence, even as he argued that the death of the deceased could have been avoided, except for the systemic failure and lack of effective protection against domestic abuse and violence of the deceased by her husband, Ikechukwu Ogbonna.
Speaking further with journalists in his Ikeja office, Mr. Eriata, informed that facts have emerged that Late Mrs. Abimbola Ogbonna suffered severe domestic violence and abuse in the hands of her husband before her untimely death and the issues of abuse and domestic violence were reported at the Lagos State Domestic And Sexual Violence Agency, the Divisional Police Office in Ajah and the Assistant Inspector General of Police Zone 2 Lagos was petitioned on the persistent threat to life, abuse and violence before the unfortunate incident.
He queried, “The issue is what proactive measure was taking by these government agencies before the avoidable incident took place?. Why was it difficult for the police to arrest and interrogate Ikechukwu Ogbonna except because he has a certain retired AIG and former COP of Lagos State as his godfather?. Why did the DPO at the Divisional Police at Ajah Lagos unable to attend to the referral letter from the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency as at the 6th day of September, 2022?.
He claimed that the deceased family has it on record that Ikechukwu Ogbonna has been abusing late Mrs. Abimbola Ogbonna and her children during the subsistence of the marriage and before late Mrs. Abimbola Ogbonna’s death to the extent of inflicting injury on her nose, face and other parts of her body.
His words, “That at some point the mother of the deceased request her daughter should bring the children to the house, and the case was reported to the Lagos State Domestic And Sexual Violence Agency and the case was referred to the Divisional Police Station at Ajah and the late Abimbola was also referred to the agencies in-house psychologist.
“That late Mrs. Abimbola Ogbonna was also assigned a lawyer by the Lagos State Domestic And Sexual Violence Agency to file for a restraining order against Ikechukwu Ogbonna and to protect her from further abuse and violence.
“That Late Mrs. Abimbola Ogbonna later called her mom after three days that nothing was being done in her case at the Divisional Police Station Ajah and the mother Mrs. Ebelle Comfort Martins had to follow her to the Police Station and they met the IPO (Investigating Police Officer) who took them to the DPO.
“That after meeting the DPO, they were asked to go back to the IPO who called the Ikechukwu Ogbonna but he refused to pick his calls. The IPO later called the Mopol (Mr. Lawal) attached to Ikechukwu Ogbonna and request that the phone be handed over to Ikechukwu.
“That Ikechukwu Ogbonna spoke to the IPO on phone so rudely and told him to tell the DPO to come and arrest him personally in his house. After which he texted late Mrs. Abimbola Ogbonna to repeat what he told the IPO in charge of the case.
“That the frustrated IPO advised them to make a report at Zone 2 Onikan, Lagos which they went immediately and they were ask to write a petition to the Assistant Inspector General office, Zone 2 Onikan Lagos, which the mother wrote and the petition was approved.
“After approval of the petition the police at ZONE 2 were planning to arrest the deceased husband Ikechukwu Ogbonna before the incident of 12th October 2022 took place.
“That late Mrs. Abimbola Martins Ogbonna was taken to different hospitals and she was rejected and was fortunate to be admitted and attended to at the General Hospital, Gbagada where she was later transferred to Igbobi Orthopaedic Hospital at Yaba and she later died on the 15th day of October 2022 after 3 (three) days.
In a thought provoking manner, the lawyer further asked, “The question that follow is what was the husband Ikechukwu Ogbonna doing when the wife was purportedly rubbing herself with kerosene and setting herself ablaze except that he succeeded in videoing her burn to death?. Why did Ikechukwu Ogbonna attempt to escape and abandoned the late wife after the fire incident?. Why did Ikechukwu Ogbonna eventually abandoned the wife and her friend after she was rejected in about 6 hospitals at VI Tollgate?. Why did Ikechukwu Ogbonna go underground and attempt to escape police arrest until after 2 days of the death of the wife and 5 days after the fire incident?.
Why did the police hurriedly charge and arraign Ikechukwu Ogbonna for negligence before the magistrate court 7 in Charge No.H/43/2022 at Yaba in a matter that involves death of Late Mrs. Abimbola Ogbonna and the husband being the prime suspect?.
“Why is Ikechukwu Ogbonna using the police to harass the late wife’s family for stealing his 20 thousand dollars when he could not pay his children’s school fees and having alleged that he abandoned the wife on their way to the 7th hospital because he need to go and source for funds to pay her medical bills?.
Recall that CASEFILE reported in October this year that a coroner inquest into the cause of death of the late Abimbola Ogboona, who reportedly died from injuries from a fire would commence in the state, but as at the time of filing this report the said fact finding exercise is yet to hold but information reaching this medium has it that the inquest has been set for December, 30, 2022.
Also, the family has petitioned the Police Commissioner in the State over the alledged harassment of Mrs. Comfort Martins, who is currently being held by the Police on a trumped-up charge of stealing from the embattled husband of late Abimbola Ogbonna.
Recall that the media went agog with the news of late Mrs. Abimbola Martins Ogbonna who died on the 15th day of October 2022 as a result of the fire incident that occurred in their home on the 12th day of October 2022, since then the internet has been inundated with different version of the stories leading to Abimbola’s death mostly as painted by the husband Mr. Ikechukwu Ogbonna.
