Nigerian police in Abuja have detained one Usman Adamu as a suspect in the
death of a young woman, Joy Odama. According to a statement released earlier
today by a
police spokesman Jimoh Moshood, Mr. Adamu is being detained as the
police continue their investigation into the circumstances surrounding Ms.
Odama’s death in the suspect’s apartment in Abuja.
Apart from Ms. Odama’s death, another young woman in the suspect’s
residence, Victoria Ezekiel, fell gravely ill but was resuscitated at the
Federal Medical Center in Jabi, Abuja.
The police spokesman disclosed that the Mr. Adamu’s investigation for
culpable homicide began after a law firm representing Philomena Odama, the
mother of the deceased young woman, wrote a petition to the Inspector General
of Police. In the petition, dated January 5, 2017, Mrs. Odama urged the IGP to
order an investigation into her daughter’s death in Mr. Adamu’s apartment.
The late Joy Odama was a second-year student of Mass Communication at
Cross River State University of Technology. The police statement said she “died
mysteriously in the flat of Alhaji Usman Adamu located at Ibro Quarters, Karmo,
Abuja on 21/12/2016.”
According to the police report, on December 18, 2016, one Elizabeth
Okpata James asked Ms. Joy Odama to go with her to Mr. Adamu’s house along with
another woman, Martha Hassan. The report added that Mrs. Philomena Odama later
met Mr. Adamu “who promised to offer her a job with the
Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC).” On December 20,
2016, the suspect requested that Joy Odama come to his apartment to help take
care of his ill house-help while he sought the services of a medical doctor.
However, when Joy Odama’s mother called the suspect the next day to ask
after her daughter, Mr. Adamu reportedly pretended not to know the young woman.
The next day, the distraught mother was invited to Karmo Police Division where
she was informed that her daughter, Joy Odama, and Victoria Ezekiel had become
unconscious the previous day in Mr. Adamu’s home and were rushed to the Federal
Medical Center, Jabi where her daughter Joy Odama was pronounced dead but the
other young woman regained consciousness.
The police said the hospital placed Ms. Ezekiel on oxygen and treated
her for conditions that included carbon monoxide poisoning, dehydration,
vomiting, and headaches.
The police spokesman disclosed that two autopsies were done at the
National Hospital, Abuja to ascertain Ms. Joy Odama’s cause of death. He said
the first autopsy, done by Dr. Jibrin Paul, was inconclusive, but the second,
carried out by Dr. Wilson Akhinwu, determined that the cause of death was
“carbon monoxide poisoning from generator fumes” aggravated by “a pre-existing
cardiomyopathy.” The autopsy ruled out the presence of cocaine in the deceased.
The police spokesman revealed that Mr. Adamu would remain in detention,
adding that the case file would be sent to Federal Director of
Public Prosecutions for legal advice and further action.
The police urged the family of Ms. Odama to remain patient, promising
that police investigators would do a thorough job and ensure that justice was
done in the case.
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