Noel Ezeribe left home for his shop on Friday, April 30, 2021, in his ‘new’ Toyota Camry car delivered to him just the day before. (Read More Here).
The shop, Shawarma and Fish Barbecue Spot, is located at Orlu Road, Akwakuma in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
His wife, Juliet, who was four months pregnant with their third child, wished him a good day as she saw him off. But it was the last time she would see her husband alive.
Mr Ezeribe was killed while returning home in the evening in an encounter with soldiers at a military checkpoint along the Amakohia flyover of the city.
The remains of the 38-year-old were deposited at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) mortuary, Owerri,
while his car and personal belongings were sent to the state police command headquarters.
Mrs Ezeribe became wary after her husband did not return that night. His phone was switched off until the following morning when a police officer picked up his call and invited the family to the police headquarters.
Tobechi, the deceased’s elder brother, along with another sibling rushed there and found his car with “shattered back windshield, bl00d-soaked interior, mangled tyres as well as personal belongings.”
According to an affidavit filed against the army by Tobechi, which is part of the evidence in an ongoing case at the Federal High Court in Owerri over Mr Ezeribe’s murder, a team of soldiers from the 34th Artillery Brigade, Obinze, brought the items to the police.
“The deputy commissioner of police (operations) said the soldiers left a written statement that the deceased had refused to stop when he was allegedly flagged down and as a result the soldiers fired several shots and killed him,” the affidavit read.
On getting to the FMC mortuary, Tobechi saw the corpse had “two bullet holes at the back of his head and one at his right upper region, all of which did not pierce to the frontside.”
That marked the beginning of the ongoing suit between the Nigerian military and the Ezeribe family.
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