Peter Nwachukwu, husband of the late popular gospel artist Osinachi, has been arrested by police over the death of his wife.
The 42-year-old artist died on Friday after spending days in an undisclosed hospital in Abuja. Colleagues of Osinachi, the lead singer at Dunamis International Headquarters in Abuja, accused her husband of hitting her.
A popular singer, Frank Edwards, claimed in a live Instagram video that Osinachi’s husband abused her on multiple occasions.
During his live video he said
“One time in a studio, this man slapped her just because she wanted to record the song in Igbo against his will. She does not do anything on her own.
“She would say, please beg my husband. She was at his mercy. I didn’t know the intensity of what she was going through; I didn’t know how somebody would be jealous of the wife he claimed to love.
“There are a lot of stories where people told her this and that, but what I know was that the control was too much. The other time somebody wanted me to get her for an event, and I contacted her, but she said ‘beg my husband.’
“She couldn’t even tell people what she was going through. I only got to know because Aunty Joy contacted me to promote her song. That was when I got a glimpse into what was happening.”
Another gospel artist, Asu Ekiye, called for Osinachi husband’s arrest.
She said, “If what I’ve heard about domestic violence is anything to go by, then I hereby support the call to arrest Osinachi’s husband immediately for questioning.
One woman, claiming to be her friend, Chidinma Ezego, alleged that the late Osinachi told her that her husband made her children whip her. She said, “Her husband has beaten and mistreated this woman, but she is dying in silence.
Now, he kicked the woman in the chest and she had been supporting life for five days and finally died. Now, the man has been arrested and I pray he rots in prison.
Remember how he tied him up and asked the kids to beat him with sticks. He said this to me A former education minister, Oby Ezekwesili, said allegations of domestic violence exacerbated the pain of Osinachi’s death, calling on churches to take the issue of violence against women seriously. A police source said Peter was arrested on Sunday afternoon.
The source said, “A young man claiming to be a relative arrived late to report the matter at the station and the police went to arrest him at his residence. FCT Police Public Relations Officer Josephine Adeh confirmed the development.
He said, “He is now in our custody. The deceased’s younger brother reported the matter and we have started an investigation. ” Dunamis church lawyer Felix Tyokase said the church’s General Overseer, Paul Enenche, had just returned from the crusade in Cameroon and had not been briefed on the matter. “And we have not received any information from the hospital regarding the cause of death,” he added.
SKJ