Five months after her death in police custody, a pathologist, Ahmed Abimiku, has debunked claims by the police that Ifeoma Abugu lost her life to drug overdose.
Her family had alleged and petitioned that she was raped before being murdered by the personnel of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
Mr Abimiku, who is the Chief Consultant Pathologist of University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH), Abuja, appeared before the Independent Investigative Panel probing cases of police brutality in Abuja on Wednesday, when he gave a summary of the result of the preliminary autopsy examination he conducted on the deceased.
Contrary to the claim of the police, the pathologist said Ms Abugu died of anoxia, a medical condition caused by a decreased or lack of oxygen supply to the lungs.
“And this can come about as a result of strangulation, choking or suffocation,” the pathologist added.
He said during the autopsy examination, it was observed that the deceased’s fingernails, lips, and tongue were bluish, indicating that she had respiratory issues before she died.
The pathologist also said there were also bruises on her knees. He added that a virginal swab shows dead sperms deposited in her body.” He added that to rule out doubts, he carried out the test by testing her body fluids for all the 11 drugs commonly abused and all the results turned out negative.
Three policemen had on September 10, 2020, around 5pm, stormed the residence of Ifeoma’s fiancé, Afam Ugwunwa, at Wumba, Abuja to arrest him on suspicion of drug dealing.
In the absence of Ugwunwa, the policemen arrested Ifeoma and all efforts to know the police station she was being taken to proved abortive as she was not found until Ugwunwa got a call the next day that Ifeoma had died and her corpse had been deposited in the morgue.
