The Enugu State Nigeria Police Command has confirmed the tragic death of Chikwado Celestine Eze, a young man from Ugbaike community in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area who died during a ritual meant to “fortify” him before his planned journey abroad.
NaijaOnPoint.com.ng(NOP) reports Eze had gotten a visa to travel abroad and then travelled home to inform his father, Uwakwe Eze who suggested that they visited a native doctor for fortification to ensure Chikwado’s success abroad.
To become fortified, the native doctor suggested that Chikwado should be buried alive for one hour and thirty minutes to undergo a spiritual process for his fortification, after which he would be exhumed.
However, after the allotted time, when they exhumed him, they discovered that the young man had already died during the process.
Reacting to the development, the State police spokesperson Daniel Ndukwe in an official statement, disclosed that both the native doctor, Enuwa Odugu, aged 48, and the victim’s father, Uwakwe Eze, aged 67, were arrested for their roles in the conspiracy and murder of 26-year-old Chikwado Eze.
According to Ndukwe, the native doctor admitted to performing the deadly ritual and acknowledged similar practices in the past. He claimed that Eze’s death occurred because he did not follow specific ritual instructions.
The police report stated: “A native doctor, one Enuwa Odugu ‘m’, aged 48, and Uwakwe Eze ‘m’, aged 67, were arrested for conspiracy and the murder of Eze’s 26-year-old son, one Chikwado Celestine Eze.
“The incident is alleged to have occurred when Uwakwe Eze took his son to the native doctor’s shrine for rituals intended to fortify him with charms. However, during the ritual, the deceased was buried in a coffin but unfortunately died in the process. He was rushed to the hospital and confirmed dead by the attending doctor, and his body has been deposited in the mortuary for preservation and autopsy.”