ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Ahmed Ammani, the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State Command, has ordered immediate investigation into the death of five persons in their room on Saturday, in Enugu State.
Ammani asked the State Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department (SCID) of the Command to conduct a full-scale investigation to unravel the circumstances surrounding the sudden and unnatural death.
The victims are one Mrs. Chinyere Odoh, her two children and two sisters. The two children include a seven-year-old Udochukwu Odoh, and her four-year-old brother, Chukwuemeka Odoh, as well as Mrs. Odoh’s two sisters, Martina Ezeme, and Ngozi Ezeme.
It was gathered that Mrs. Chinyere Odoh was a wife of a cleric identified as Adolphus Odoh.
The five victims were discovered dead in their apartment at Amutenyi in Obollo-Afor community of Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State, Saturday morning.
The five victims died in their sleep after they went to bed Friday night.
Reports say one of the victims had an early morning appointment with a friend who went to their house to call her. Getting to their house, the friend called severally but nobody responded to her calls, making her raise the alarm.
Neighbours who were alerted by the alarm forced the door open only to discover the five of them dead.
Confirming the incident, the Chairman of the local government area, Solomon Onah, said the news had thrown the council area into mourning.
He said: “We saw their dead bodies early this Saturday morning. We are yet to identify the cause of the deaths but one of the victims had been taken to Enugu Metropolis for autopsy.
“When we went to their house, we saw a locally-made charcoal stove in the room where they died, though, there was no fire on it. We cannot suspect generator fume because they did not use the generator last night. We are yet to identify the cause of the incident until we get the result of the autopsy.”
The cleric, Mr. Odoh, was too shocked to comment at press time.
The statement signed by the spokesperson for the police Command, Daniel Ndukwe, partly reads: “The Commissioner, while describing the incident as unfortunate and expressing his condolences to the family members and friends of the deceased persons, has further directed that the investigation be thoroughly carried out and concluded within the shortest possible time.
“Meanwhile, preliminary investigation reveals that the said deceased persons went to bed the previous night and were not seen in the morning.
“However, their lifeless bodies were found in two separate rooms they slept in, when Police Operatives from Udenu Police Division of the Command, who swiftly responded to a distress call on the incident, forcefully opened the doors of the rooms.
“They were immediately moved to the hospital and confirmed dead by doctors on duty, and their corpses deposited in the mortuary for preservation and autopsy. Further development will be communicated.”