Palpable grief and anxiety has gripped Uhuala, Umuada community in Avutu, Obowo local government area of Imo State, as 24-year old Miss Chioma Onukwuwe mysteriously died not long after a bird reportedly perched on her head.
Reacting to what some villagers called “this bizarre incident”, the grief-stricken father of late Chioma, Mr. Humphrey Ojimmadu Onukwuwe, resisted the temptation of pointing accusing finger on anybody, since he could not at the material time, know of any one who could plan such evil against his family.
“Whosoever was responsible for the untimely death of my daughter, will definitely have questions to answer before God, the creator of this universe”, Onukwuwe said.
Narrating the family’s grief also to newsmen, the late lady’s uncle, Mr. Robinson Onukwuwe, said: “Her mysterious death is very painful. She had no known health challenges at the time of her death. We can only say that the strange bird remains the source of our grief”.
He recalled that his late niece said she was resting in the house when a bird of no specific description, flew into the room, perched on her head and vanished almost immediately.
“We still do not understand the entire story but we noticed that her system automatically changed. She was immediately taken to Emerenini Hospital but she died about 10 minutes on arrival”, Mr. Onukwuwe grieved.
Continuing, the man described late Chioma as “very brilliant, jovial, tolerant, cheerful, humble, respectful and obedient, not only to her teachers and colleagues in school, but also to everybody”.
A sympathizer, who spoke on strict grounds of anonymity, opined that “the girl’s death was more spiritual that medical”.
“It is regrettable that she was taken to a hospital instead of a church, where serious prayers would have been said for her. Chioma’s problem was spiritual and not medical. Hospitals do not treat spiritual cases”, the villagers opined.
Answering another question, the villager said: “Since it has happened, I can only encourage her parents to take heart. I urge those who are still neck deep in diabolical acts to repent or be prepared to face God’s wrath”.