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Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State has ordered an investigation to fish out the proponents behind the instigation of the reintroduction of harmful widowhood practices in the state.
Uzodimma gave the charge in Isieke, Awo-Omamma, Oru East where female siblings of a deceased man, Odinakachi Ndubuisi tried to force his wife, Chika Ndubuisi to drink the water used to wash the corpse to prove her innocence over his death on Friday.
Represented by the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Lady Nkechi Ugwu, Uzodimma warned locals to desist from such practice, saying it will not be allowed in Imo State.
The Imo State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Chief Nkechi Ugwu and security operatives had on Friday saved a widow, Mrs Chika Ndubuisi from drinking the water used to wash her husband’s corpse.
Ugwu, alongside the local government Chairman, and security operatives stormed the venue of the burial at Isieke, Awo-Omamma, Imo State on Friday, October 24th.
The Commissioner said the Imo State Ministry of Women Affairs, Onurube Coalition Group, Virgin Heart Foundation, Harsco Global Media, Odumodu TV, and Sisters With a Goal intervened, rescued the widow, and provided her with support and protection.
Ugwu disclosed that the widow, Chika Joy Amanda was falsely accused by her in-laws, the Akamegbulem family, of killing him.
Sources who pleaded anonymity said Chika was locked inside the ambulance that conveyed the corpse to the Isieke community, waiting for her to drink the water before help arrived.
However, due to the heavy presence of security operatives and government officials, Odinakachi’s siblings backed down and allowed her to alight from the ambulance.
Thereafter, security operatives directed that the burial ceremony begin and ensured the dust-to-dust rite was performed by Chika and her children, and the corpse was buried.
Late Chika’s husband, Mr Odinakachi Ndubuisi was said to have given up the ghost after a tough battle with hepatitis complications.
The source said during treatment, one of Odinakachi’s sisters forcefully moved him from the hospital to a native doctor where he gave up the ghost.
However, just before the burial, Odinakachi’s female siblings insisted that his widow, Chika must drink the water used to wash the corpse to prove her innocence.
Sources had alerted Onurube Coalition that some female siblings of Odinakachi Ndubuisi had threatened the widow that she would be forced to drink the water used to wash her husband’s corpse to prove her innocence.
The source said Chika was locked in the ambulance for hours alongside her brother with the corpse and was resisted from alighting until she tasted the corpse water.
However, upon notice of the barbaric practice, Onurube Coalition consisting of Marjorie Ezihe, Davidson Nwosu, Harriet Ijeoma, and several others alerted the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Chief Nkechi Ugwu and the Oru West local government Chairman, and several security operatives who stormed the community and rescued Chika, her children, and brother.
The Imo State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Chief Nkechi Ugwu said the ministry waded into the obnoxious, victimisation and inhuman treatment meted out against a widow in Awo-Omamma in Oru-East LGA whose husband died of a protracted sickness.
Ugwu said “When the attention of the ministry was drawn that the family members accused her of killing her husband and wanted the widow to drink the water used in bathing the husband’s corpse and also bathe with the water, efforts were made to stop the obnoxious and harmful traditional practice.
“In collaboration with the council Chairman of Oru East, Chief Okwaraigwe, the representatives of Virgin Heart Foundation and Onurube, Director Child Development of the Ministry, Mrs. Blessing Azubuike, and security personnel from Oru East, we attended the burial to ensure that obnoxious practice was not carried out on the widow.
“We were there until the man was buried and the grave site closed. The woman and her children were rescued from the hands of the evil perpetrators and those caught in the act were handed over to the authorities for prosecution in line with the relevant extant laws”, Ugwu said.
Further, she said calm has been restored to the community saying “calm has been restored to the community with an investigation started to fish out those behind the harmful traditional practice long abrogated and prohibited. We gave a stern warning to people to desist from such acts because in imo state, such will not be condoned.”
In May 2025, a non-governmental organisation, Community Life Project, called for the total eradication of the harmful traditional practices and the denial of women’s inheritance being practiced in some communities of Imo State.
Meanwhile, calm has been restored to the community while Chika and her children have been taken into protective custody to protect them from further attacks from her in-laws.
