KWENU: Our Culture, Our Future

Nigerian kills wife in America

 ACHO ORABUCHI

 Dallas, Texas, USA

It has happened again! Another Nigerian marriage ended deadly in Garland, Texas on Saturday, March 25, 2007. A Nigerian has abruptly ended the life of his wife in Garland, Dallas metropolitan area, Texas. Mr. Theophilus Ojukwu, 46, of Enugwu-Agu, Ihe in Awgu LGA, Enugu State, on Saturday, March 25, 2006, cut short  his wife’s life in their Garland home. Reportedly, Melvina Ojukwu, 36, of Umuanebe, Ihe, Awgu LGA, died from a blunt-force trauma to the head.

After the incident, Theophilus Ojukwu allegedly fled to a hotel in Mesquite, a nearby city, with his four children, ages 4 to 9, and called police informing them of the incident. Mr. Ojukwu was arrested that evening and remanded in custody at Lew Sterrett Justice Center. His four children are currently under the custody of Child Protective Services (CPS) pending when a suitable relative would be found for a temporary and subsequent permanent placement of the children.

According to Officer Joe Harn, a Garland police spokesman, the bail for Mr. Ojukwu was set at $1 million ($1,000,000); his children are still in the custody of CPS. “Mr. Ojukwu has been officially charged with murder,” he said.

Sources close to the family said that about two years ago, Melvina Ojukwu’s mother, who was here on a visit, tragically died in her house, at the same 5400 block of Barcelona Drive where she met her untimely and heartbreaking death.

The fractious Nigerian community was saddened by the news of Melvina’s death and the circumstances surrounding it.

At the time  the closest relative of Melvina in the Unites States, Mr. Edmund Nebo, was contacted, he was still in shock about the death—the manner of the death—of his cousin. “I’m going through a lot now that I can’t talk about the whole thing,” he muttered.

The President of Ihe Federation Club-Dallas, Mr. Ignatius Okafor, could not fathom why Melvina had to die the way she did. “We all grew up together. We’re from the same clan and being the President of Ihe Federation in Dallas, everything now is in my hands. We’re making the funeral arrangements in consultation with our people at home. I’m very sad about the whole incident; I never expected it to happen. The killing of Melvina by her husband was unnecessary. I’m still feeling it like a dream,” he said.

Mr. Ejike Okpa from Umuonwo Ihe, in Awgu LGA, said,

“It is very disturbing that people that left their country in search of greener pasture end up in red pasture. No one would have imagined that the Ojukwu's clan in Garland would end up like this. It is a big blow to the family as both were the apparent breadwinners. But now, Mr. Ojukwu, who already confessed to the crime, may get the death penalty or spend the rest of his life in jail without the option of parole, if convicted of this crime.”

Though the motive for the murder has not been legally or officially established, sources close to the family indicated that Theophilus and Melvina had been having some marital problems. However, no one expected a deadly outcome.

After writing about Nigerian broken marriages in America, particularly those that ended deadly a few months, I thought that would be the last I would write on the subject. I was wrong. Never did I know that a Nigerian would kill his wife again. The phenomenon has now become a troubling trend.

In another family violence incident involving a Nigerian, Grace Bonds Staples reported in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution of March 8, 2006 that Roseline Unachukwu, 34, and her six children were taken to the family violence shelter, Northwest YWCA in Marietta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, as a result of physical violence. Her husband, Benjamin Unachukwu from Nnewi, Anambra State, cut her arms with a kitchen knife. Benjamin was taken to jail to face two criminal charges. Staples reported,

“According to the criminal warrant, Roseline was left with a deep wound on her right arm and small cuts and bruises on the left. When the police arrived, they called the Department of Family and Children Services and the Y's hotline. They took Benjamin Unachukwu to jail and later charged him with aggravated assault and, because the children saw the alleged attack, cruelty to a child. Unachukwu has been indicted on both charges and is out on bond and awaiting trial, police said.”

The societal pressure is exacting enormous stress on many Nigerian marriages. There is gargantuan pressure that goes with living a comfortable life in America. In order for families to meet their needs and wants, both husband and wife must work and, sometimes, they work odd hours making it difficult for them to have time for each other. In some cases, they unfortunately work different schedules. Not only that they rarely see each other, joggling their work schedule and raising children seem to quadruple the burden. Also, we should not forget about the undue demand coming from relatives in Nigeria. Due to lack of understanding, people at home seem to be unrealistically impatient with their demands thereby putting some marriages under an immense strain. Some Nigerian marriages that could not cope or withstand these inherent amalgamation of pressures found themselves flagging with the inevitable—collapse.

Nevertheless, no one should take another person’s life no matter the circumstances. Killing someone is inexcusable and murdering a spouse does not settle any marital problems. Unfortunately, family violence that has permeated the Nigerian marriages is never the answer to resolving marital travails.