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TRAGEDY! Varsity teacher kills wife, self in another US domestic violence case
Even as the dust raised by the alleged suicide of Ikenna Erinne, a Nigerian-born US medical doctor, who allegedly shot himself in front of his wife and children, another case of Chukwudubem Okafor, a teacher at the Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, United States, has upped the ante.
While Erinne, a 36-year-old cardiologist, was said to have shot himself on Sunday, January 26, after a US court handed him a $15,000 monthly child support mandate, following his divorce from his wife, Okafor, reportedly took his own action further US, by fatally shooting his Jamaican wife, Cheryl, before taking his own life in what authorities have classified as a murder-suicide.
Joel Vonnille, a Detective with the Berks County Coroner’s Office in Pennsylvania, who said the concluding investigation into the tragic had been reached confirming it as suicide and murder, said, Okafor and his 37-year-old wife, Cheryl, resided in Exeter Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, and were parents to four children.
His words: “The investigation is closed and the manner of death of Mr. Okafor was ruled as a suicide and the death of his wife a homicide, he shot her and then shot himself. The motive (for the killing) is that they had marital problems and this was domestic dispute.”
“A small-calibre handgun was found near the bodies,” the police boss said, adding that Okafor, devastated by his wife’s departure just days earlier, arranged to meet her at a relative’s home on Pear Street in Reading. There, he shot her multiple times before turning the gun on himself, firing a single fatal shot to his head.
Joseph Amprey, a retired Kutztown University professor and close friend of the couple, who described them as talented artists who dedicated much of their time to supporting children in Berks County, was quoted as saying: “They were both very talented and they were making a tremendous contribution to the community.”
The report said Cheryl narrowly missed death in her previous marriage, Alfred Simon Philmore, to whom she was earlier married and later left in 1990, fatally shot and killed Osmond Dacosta Walker, her boyfriend in Reading, in 1998, for which he was convicted in 1999 and currently serving his sentence in a state prison in Fayette County.
Matt Santo, the university’s spokesman, was quoted as saying of Okafor, an English Professor and a poet, known as Dubem, had been teaching at Kutztown since 1995 and was on a sabbatical, with plans to resume teaching next month.
Erinne, reportedly committed suicide after losing a child support case to his yet-to-be-identified ex-wife, the report said, adding that the Anambra-state-born late doctor had a prolonged divorce battle with his estranged wife, including the custody of their children.
Clayton Udo, a Nigerian-American, who confirmed the incident in a post shared on X.com, that the court’s verdict took a severe financial toll on him, leading to his tragic death, wrote: “The abuse of African men in the USA must come to an end. In a deeply troubling case, Dr. Ikenna Erinne, an American-trained cardiologist, allegedly took his own life after an American court ordered him to pay his ex-wife $15,000 monthly, following a prolonged and contentious divorce case. This tragic incident highlights the systemic issues within the legal system that disproportionately affect African men.”
Peter Obi, candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has given assignment to Nigerians to put all those aspiring to take up political positions in the country through the grill to ascertain their level of integrity, saying it was required as a sine qua non for the job they seek.
Obi, who has been a subject of discussion in the polity since the allegation of corruption was levied against him by Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesman of his campaign in 2023, over the conduct of the party’s primaries to choose candidates for the 2027 general elections, said the grilling must start with his own person.
A guest in an interview on a podcast with Rufai Oseni, a popular television anchor, the former Governor of Anambra State, stated that it was actually for this reason that he had now sworn to see the litigation he instituted against Okonkwo through.
His take is that the Nollywood actor should use the courtrooms to give all the details of bad behaviour, following his threat to expose him fully, after alleging that he was collecting money from aspirants in the said election for electoral favours.
Hear him: “The issue of taking Kenneth Okonkwo to court wouldn’t have arisen if he had stopped at those allegations. But he claimed he still has more he would expose about me in the future. So, I am very happy to take him to court so that he can expose me publicly, alongside other Nigerians. If any of them has any criminal allegations against me, they should bring them to court.
“Not just Kenneth, everybody should now say those things they know that is bad about me or I did that is wrong because it’s good for the system, it’s good for the society,” Obi said.
“So, if you know that when we were in primary school, this man was cheating or didn’t go to the primary school, didn’t go to secondary school, didn’t do, if you know this man has done something criminal somewhere, this is time to bring it up.”
For the umpteenth time, Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned about the dangerous implication of using state institutions, particularly the judiciary to destroy Nigeria’s democracy, saying it is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good.
Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), speaking on the heels of Tuesday’s verdict of the Court of Appeal, halting the de-registration order by the Federal High Court, insisted that judicial officers must not lend themselves to any act capable of undermining the nation’s democratic process.
The appellate court had ordered a stay of execution on the order made on Monday by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court Abuja, for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ADC alongside four other political parties).
A totally scandalised Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, had taken umbrage, sparing no hard words in upbraiding the lower court judge, stating that his likes were unfit to sit on the bench.
In a unanimous ruling by a three-man panel, the court held that Lifu’s action was “the highest form of judicial impertinence”, stressing that the Supreme Court previously held that a judge who acted in such a manner.
Describing his conduct as the height of judicial rascality, the upper court, stated: “Courts are enjoined to protect their integrity. This Court has supervisory authority over the trial court.
“The decision of the lower court to proceed with the judgment despite the express order of this court is a brazen violation of the hierarchy of the court and the 1999 Constitution.
This court has the duty to invoke its powers in ensuring that its orders are obeyed. The application for a stay of execution is here yet granted. The enforcement of the judgment is stayed.”
Atiku, who hailed the position of the higher court, which restored his hope to be on the ballot as presidential candidate in the 2027 election, also noted the role of INEC as “significant.”
He said: “I welcome the Court of Appeal’s decision to stay the execution of the Federal High Court judgement seeking the deregistration of our great party, the ADC, and four other political parties. It is particularly significant that INEC itself initiated the application for the stay.
“The development reflects growing public concern over judicial contradictions and politically charged rulings within the judiciary. “Any attempt to undermine Nigeria’s hard-won democracy through judicial manipulation is a grave danger to the Republic. If our democracy suffers further injury, history will demand accountability from those entrusted with dispensing justice.
Outside ADC, Lifu’s order, also included: Action Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), similarly slammed for allegedly failing to meet the constitutional requirements for continued registration and participation in elections.
“He is running in contempt of the court. Justice Lifu should be arrested because he is acting in contempt of the court which is a criminal act,” were the exact words with which the African Democratic Congress (ADC), demonstrated its angst over the court ruling on Monday, ordering its de-registration as a political party in Nigeria.
A furious Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the party, told his host while appearing as a guest on Monday’s edition of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television that the judge of the Abuja Federal High Court who gave the order was actually playing with fire because of the consequences.
Directly accusing him of playing the script of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to ensure that President Bola Tinubu emerged the sole candidate for the 2027 presidential election, the party spokesman, was emphatic that the plan would not work, as head or tail, ADC must be on the ballot in all the elections.
Hear him: “There is a Court of Appeal order saying don’t hear this case until October 27. So, on what basis? You can’t place something on nothing. The Court of Appeal said don’t act on this until I hear it on October 27. So, on what basis did he deliver the judgement
“So, for us in the African Democratic Congress, what we’re convinced and they know is what they have done has no leg to stand on legally. What they want to do is to create doubts in the minds of the people that this ADC has too many legal cases, can we actually run on this? And to distract us. But we’re not distracted.
“We’re very clear. It was in spite of all they have done since ADC came on board that we ran one of the best and one of the most comprehensive direct primaries in the history of democracy in Nigeria. So, we are strong enough to withstand this. And that’s why I’m saying that we are going to contest in 2027. We’re ADC. We don’t buckle before dictatorship.”
Stressing on the implication of the judgement, which also affected Accord Party (AP), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) for allegedly failing to meet constitutional and electoral performance requirements, following a suit by the National Forum of Former Legislators, he said it portended grave danger.
He added: “We are not surprised. We know that the Nigerian people believe that there is a problem with the judiciary, but what we did not expect is the level of judicial rascality that was demonstrated today.
“What we are saying is that we reject it in its totality, and we are saying that the people behind this are playing with fire. Hundreds, if not thousands, have obtained nomination forms and contested elections and emerged as candidates on the platform of the ADC.”
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