According to Christiana, her husband was killed on September 26, 2024, at a cocoa farm in Block 2D/66 Ikom, a government-owned cocoa estate. She became suspicious when her husband failed to return home at his usual time.
Christiana Monday, a widow, has petitioned Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), over the alleged brutal murder of her husband, Raphael Monday, on a cocoa farm.
She has also accused the police of complicity in the case, Vanguard reports.
In a petition dated November 29, 2024, and shared with journalists in Calabar, Christiana alleged that a man (name withheld) masterminded her husband’s killing. She appealed to the IGP and the wife of the Governor of Cross River State, Mrs. Eyoanwan Otu, to ensure justice is served, describing the incident as a source of immense agony for her and her three children.
According to Christiana, her husband was killed on September 26, 2024, at a cocoa farm in Block 2D/66 Ikom, a government-owned cocoa estate. She became suspicious when her husband failed to return home at his usual time.
“My husband left the house on September 26, 2024, saying he was going to the farm with his father. He was killed by (the accused) and his boys, who then took his body to the mortuary without my knowledge,” she alleged.
Her initial inquiries were met with conflicting accounts. When she called her husband’s phone, a police officer from Ikom Area Command answered and falsely claimed her husband had been arrested.
Upon visiting the command, Christiana was told to check the notice board for his name, but it was not listed.
The following day, September 27, she returned with her in-laws. She recounted seeing the officer she spoke to on the phone emerging from a vehicle with the suspect.
“The officer brought out a bag that I identified as my husband’s. He then informed me that my husband was dead, and the man claimed to have retrieved his body from the farm and deposited it at the mortuary,” she said.
Christiana later confirmed her husband’s identity at the morgue.
The widow also accused one other man of attempting to bribe her family with ₦400,000 to bury her husband and keep the matter quiet.
“They told us to use the money to bury my husband and to claim it was his farm group, with whom he bought cocoa farms under the former Governor Ben Ayade’s government, that killed him. We refused the money,” she said.
She called on the police to question the suspects about their involvement, stating, “If he is not involved, why would they bring money to bury my husband?”
Christiana, now left to care for her three young children, pleaded for justice and support.
“I am begging the IGP and the wife of the Governor to help me. I don’t know where to start with these little children. Who will pay their school fees? Who will feed them? Should their future end just like that?”
When contacted, one of the men the widow accused denied any involvement in Raphael Monday’s death.
“I am very, very innocent of this allegation,” he said. “The matter is with the Commissioner of Police. You can get more facts from them.”
The Public Relations Officer of the Cross River State Police Command, SP Irene Ugbo, said she could not confirm whether the matter had been reported to the Commissioner of Police.
“If it’s a case already ongoing, I cannot confirm because I don’t know whether they have reported to the Commissioner of Police. Investigation would be ongoing until it reaches a logical conclusion,”
she stated.
The widow’s petition has now added to calls for a thorough investigation to ensure justice is served.
