By Abasi Ita
A widow, Christiana Monday in Cross River Central has petitioned the Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun over the gruesome murder of her husband,late Raphael Monday on a cocoa farm in Ikom with alleged complicity of the Police.
In the petition dated November 29 and made available to newsmen in Calabar on Wednesday, the woman is urging the Inspector General to order the arrest and interrogation of one Mr Ubi Ikpi as the prime suspect in the killing of her late husband.
Accordingly, she has appealed to the IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, and Wife of the Governor of Cross River, Bishop Eyoanwan Otu to bring to book the alleged murderer.
She alleged the killer of her husband, Mr Raphael Monday, met her with an offer of N400,000 to bury his remains.
According to the mother of three, her husband was killed on September 26, 2024 on a cocoa farm located at Block 2D/66 Ikom, a Cross River government-owned cocoa estate.
The widow said she found out about her husband’s death when he didn’t return from the farm at the usual time he used to.
“My husband left the house on the 26th of September 2024, saying he was going to the farm with his father, only for him to be killed by Ubi and his boys, who took his corpse and deposited it in the mortuary without my knowledge,” she said.
The mother of three children said how she found out was when she called her husband’s line severally and a police officer from Ikom Area Command took the call and lied that husband was arrested
She said she reported to the Ikom Area Command, and she was instructed to check the notice board.
According to her, she did, but her husband’s name was not there and she waited till nightfall and later left, following other officers’ effort to comb the cell for her husband.
Mrs Monday said she summoned courage and went to the Area Command with her in-laws the next day, September 27.
“When we got there, I saw the policeman I spoke with on the phone with Ubi coming out from the same vehicle, only for the officer bring out a bag which i identified to be that of my husband.
“He started telling me that my husband is dead and that Ubi went and carried him from the farm and deposited his body in the mortuary, and that Ubi told him that his boys went to the farm to see my husband’s corpse,” she said.
The woman said she identified her husband corpse in the mortuary following her request to be taken there to see for herself.
“When we came back from the mortuary, they sent one Bishop Collins Ogar, who came with N400,000, to bribe us so that we would not take the matter to the Police State Command in Calabar, but we refused.
“They said we should use the money to bury my husband. They also said we should say it was my husband’s farm group whom they bought cocoa farms together under former Governor Ben Ayade’s government that killed him.
“I want the police to also ask Collins the reason why he brought that money to us to bury my husband if he doesn’t know anything concerning my husband’s death.
“My husband was killed, leaving behind three children and at this young age, I have become a widow.
“I am begging and IGP and the Wife of the Governor, Her Excellency, Bishop Eyoanwan Bassey Otu, to help me. I don’t know where to start with these little children; who will pay their school fees? Who will feed them? Should their future end just like that?”
In his reaction, Ikpi denied the allegation that he was responsible for the death of Monday.
“I am very, very innocent about that allegation – very, very innocent,” he said. “If you want to get more information in this matter, you can book an interview with the Commissioner of Police.
“The matter is with the Commissioner of Police. You can book an interview to get more facts that I am innocent about that allegation,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the state Police Command, SP Irene Ugbo, could not confirm whether the matter had been reported to the Commissioner of Police.
“If it’s a case that is already ongoing, I cannot confirm because I don’t know whether they have reported to the Commissioner of Police. I have to find out.
“I cannot confirm a story that I am not aware of. If it is a petition, if somebody has complained, investigation would be going on until otherwise.