By Sophia Afolabi
A Nigerian woman, Mrs. Chioma Chikadibia, has died following months of deteriorating health and emotional trauma linked to the continued detention of her husband and three daughters by the Abia State Police Command.
Her surviving daughter, Chikiezie Ifeoma Lilian, confirmed her death to journalists on Wednesday, revealing that Mrs. Chikadibia passed away on Friday, August 8, 2025.
“She died out of depression and other stuff over the continual detention of her husband (my father) and her three daughters by the police,” Lilian said.
The tragedy follows the controversial arrest and secret detention of Mr. Chikadibia Sunday, a 63-year-old shoemaker, and his daughters — Glory, Ngozi, and Ogechi — during a violent midnight police raid on April 12 in their home at Alaukwu Village, Osisioma Ngwa LGA, Abia State.
Eyewitnesses allege that operatives from the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Abia State Police Command, many in plain clothes, forcibly entered the home without a warrant, damaged property, and seized cash and valuables before taking the family away.
For weeks, the police denied any knowledge of the family’s whereabouts, despite eyewitness testimony and public pressure. It was later uncovered that the family had been secretly arraigned and remanded at the Aba Correctional Centre — a process allegedly carried out without notifying relatives or allowing them legal representation.
In May, Mrs. Chikadibia, already battling high blood pressure, gave an emotional interview to SaharaReporters, lamenting the collapse of her family under the weight of what she described as unlawful persecution.
“My husband is slimming down daily. Life has not been easy on me, coupled with my ill health,” she said.
“My children’s dreams have been scattered. Their customers and businesses have been liquidated. This detention has created much vacuum in the family.”
Her youngest daughter, Ogechi, a final-year student of the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu, was unable to sit for her exams and now faces the possibility of repeating a year.
Family members say Mrs. Chikadibia’s grief, the absence of state intervention, and worsening health ultimately led to her death.
The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) condemned the arrests, calling them “a gross abuse of police power and due process.”
RULAAC Executive Director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, called on the Inspector-General of Police and the Abia State Commissioner of Police to launch an immediate investigation and secure the release of the detained family.
“This case reflects the very worst of police impunity — armed men storming a home without a warrant, abducting an entire family, denying them access to lawyers or relatives, and hiding them from public view,” Nwanguma said.
As of the time of reporting, the Chikadibia family remains in custody at the Aba Correctional Centre. No formal charges have been made public, and calls for justice continue to grow louder amid rising concern over Nigeria’s worsening human rights record.
