Nigerian Navy civilian staff found dead in his office days after altercation with four personnel
The Nigerian Navy (NN) says it has begun an investigation into the death of one of its civilian staff members, Mr. Ifeanyi Onumaegbu, after an altercation with four officers.
The Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Adm. Emmanuel Ogalla, who confirmed the incident in a statement on Thursday, April 11, 2024, said that Onumaegbu died at the Nigerian Navy Reference Hospital (NNRH) Ojo, Lagos, where he worked.
He explained further that the deceased who would have clocked 34 years on May 22, was a civilian staff of the Ministry of Defence attached to the Laboratory Department of the NNRH since 2009. He was awarded the best junior civilian staff at the NNRH in 2019 and was loved by his bosses, and co-workers for being dutiful
“The navy is deeply saddened by the demise of Mr Ifeanyi Onumaegbu and the circumstances surrounding his death. On March 31, he was found lifeless in his office at NNRH,” the statement read.
“A preliminary investigation revealed that on March 26, the deceased was involved in an altercation with a civilian lady and some NN personnel in Navy Town Barracks,”
Ogalla said that all suspected personnel and the civilian lady involved in the previous altercation had been identified and are currently under close custody.
He also said that NN had facilitated the movement of the deceased’s body to a reputable government hospital in Lagos based on the request of the family for an autopsy.
“The NN further wishes to assure his family and the public that all necessary measures are being taken to unravel the cause of his death.
“Any person found culpable would be prosecuted according to extant laws,” he added.
Meanwhile, the family of the deceased alleged that he was beaten to death by four Navy officers who were contracted by a young woman who was allegedly fond of bullying him and calling him a ”dog boy”
According to the family source who spoke to Sahara Reporters, the late Richard who worked with the ministry’s laboratory for 15 years before he died on Easter Sunday following the brutal attack he received from the naval officers, loved taking care of dogs and the young woman had made it a point of duty to constantly bully him, but on March 26, when she called him a dog boy as usual, he confronted her and they had an altercation.
“Richard Onumegbu was a civilian staff of the Nigerian Ministry of Defence. He worked there for 15 years and he dedicated his life to that ministry. He worked in the laboratory,” the source narrated.
“Unfortunately, on March 26, 2024, Richard did not come home. His family and his sister who he was living with were worried, unknown that Richard was being beaten, brutalised and battered for seven hours. He was beaten from 8pm on March 26 to 1am March 27
“His crime was that he loves taking care of dogs. One of his bosses was not around and left his dog in Richard’s care. After work, as usual, Richard went to take care of the dogs
“There is a particular lady living in the compound that was always bullying Richard. Whenever she saw Richard, she called him ‘dog boy’. That day, he decided to stand up for himself and told her he had had enough of her bullying
“They had a little bit of altercations and the lady tried to slap him but he tried to defend himself and being a man, he had the upper hand but he did not beat this lady.
“Because of the whole back and forth, Richard pinned the lady on the floor and he asked her to apologise to him before he could let her go. Understanding that she had wronged him, she apologised to Richard and he let her go. He never laid his hand on the lady.
“Unknown to Richard, the lady went to mobilise and came back with five Navy officers. They came there and four of them, without listening to Richard’s side of the story, started brutalising him. They kicked him, punched and beat him.
“They beat him to the extent that he was filled with sores and swollen. Unfortunately, on Easter Sunday, his family got a call that he had died.
“To show how much Richard loved the Navy and his job, with the bruises on his body, he still went to work and he died at work.
“Jungle justice is what they did to him. They took away the joy of the family. Took away a promising young man that had so much to give. All we want is justice.
“We want justice. The Nigerian Navy failed him when he was alive. This case is looking like it is going to be swept under the carpet. They are hiding details surrounding how far they are going with the interrogation of the people who perpetrated this act.
“The Nigerian Navy is covering a lot of things. They are not saying anything to the family. They are saying that they cannot divulge the information of the case to the family.
“We want justice for him and we cannot keep silent. Governor Sanwo-Olu, please come to our aid. We need justice for Richard. He was taken from us abruptly. He had dreams.
“This could have been your son or your brother or happened to anybody. He worked there for 15 years, and to think that he died at the hands of the Nigerian Navy makes it worse. Justice must prevail.”
