By Tina Amanda
The family of 27-year-old Onyekachi Ugiri, a protester who died on October 31, 2023, after reportedly being struck by a stray bullet during a demonstration against the impeachment of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, says they are still waiting for his body to be returned.
Despite a video that purportedly shows Onyekachi’s body, his family claims they have not been able to locate his remains for a proper burial.
In an emotional interview with journalists in Port Harcourt, Onyekachi’s mother, Mrs. Callister Ugiri, expressed her continued anguish:
“My name is Callister Ugiri, the mother of Onyekachi Ugiri, who died on October 31, 2023, during a protest against the removal of Governor Sim Fubara. Since then, we have been searching for his body without success, visiting many hospitals and morgues, yet there is no trace of him.
“I know the Governor sent some persons to come and visit us,to say sorry to us,the Governor is a good man,I know he will remember us.
“I still have four children, Onyekachi is the one helping us,he is the one finding food for us, paying house rent for us, but now I do not have any helper again.
“My husband is not well, he had an accident and in the village, it’s me alone that is catering for the four children going to school”.
She also implored the police for information on her son’s burial location: “Governor, please help me find my child’s body so we can take him home for a proper burial. If the police buried him somewhere, I beg them to show us the place so we can bring him back to our village.”
Onyekachi’s tragic death occurred on the same day that over a hundred youths protesting the Governor’s impeachment were arrested and detained by the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) in Port Harcourt.
At the time, then Commissioner of Police Emeka Polycarp Nwonye denied claims that any protester was shot by police, asserting in a press briefing two days after the incident that there were no fatalities among the protesters.
