IBADAN, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – Grace Nnaji, a neighbour of the late Osinachi Nwachukwu, has testified at the Federal Capital Territory Court as the trial of the late of Osinachi’s husband, Mr. Peter Nwachukwu, continued on Thursday, 13 October.
She said the singer, on many occasions, begged her not to report her husband’s abuse because she believed he would change someday.
While giving her testimony before the court, Nnaji, a tailor, said she met the singer when the gospel singer approached her to make a dress for her.
Nnaji stated that she became close to the deceased as her shop and apartment were close to the Nwachukwu’s house.
She said the deceased confided in her that the defendant was always hitting her at the slightest provocation.
“Ekwueme, as I used to call her, came to my shop one day with injuries on her daughter’s head and she told me that the defendant pushed her and the child against the wall.
“The daughter had fever at the same time and I was the one that gave Ekwueme money to buy drugs from the pharmacy to give her daughter.
“Another time, Osinachi showed me injuries on her back and told me that Peter kicked her on her back and she slammed into the wall with her chest.
“One day, she ran to my house at about 5am and said the previous night, she locked her door and he kicked it open with his leg and proceeded to hit her on her chest.
“She fell on the floor and remained there, crying until she slept off,” Nnaji said.
She further said the defendant was in the habit of locking his wife out whenever she went to church and she would be at the gate knocking for hours.
According to Nnaji, neighbours would have to plead with Mr. Nwachukwu before she would be allowed inside their apartment.
She also told the court that Osinachi slept in her house for two days after her husband refused to allow her into the house.
Nnaji alleged that Mr. Nwachukwu threatened that he was going to destroy Osinachi’s reputation and kill her brother and that was the reason she was afraid to tell anyone about her ordeal.
She said when she told the singer to report the abuse to the police, her family, church and also a human rights radio, she refused.
“When I told her that I was going to report to the church, she begged me not to, saying that her husband would change,” she said.
Speaking about when the deceased was ill, she said she had to sneak into her house to help her clean the house to avoid the defendant getting angry and complaining about an untidy house.
Meanwhile, Mr. Nwachukwu has denied killing the singer at a court hearing in June, 2022.
He said his late wife died of lung cancer.
Speaking at a High Court in Abuja, where he was arraigned, Nwachukwu said he never hit the deceased singer.
“Let me tell the whole world, I have suffered a lot. I have been abandoned. What killed my wife was cancer of the lungs, I didn’t hit my wife.
“Cancer of the lungs killed my wife, Osinachi Nwachukwu, so I’m suffering for what I do not know,” he spoke while being moved from the courtroom.