Bad Marriage: Tragedy as Man Sets Wife, In-law Ablaze

Bad Marriage: Tragedy as Man Sets Wife, In-law Ablaze

A troubled marriage has landed middle-aged man, Ben Ogundoro in police net last week after he allegedly set  his wife and her younger brother ablaze while they slept.

THECONSCIENCEng gathered that he was detained as the prime suspect.

The deceased, Chinyere Magella Ogudoro had a promising career in banking when she got married to Benjamin Ogudoro, an accountant.

Chinyere did so well in the banking sector as she rose to the peak of her career still discharging her roles as a wife and mother to her four children.

She was a Manager at Fidelity Bank before she moved to Ecobank where she resigned as a Regional Manager.

Even though she had a Master’s degree from the University of Lagos in 2006, Chinyere, in a veiled thirst for knowledge and global relevance, went to Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland, to pursue another Master’s degree in 2018.

Whereas her relocation to Great Britain was for separation from her abusive husband but none of us knew this much until after her unfortunate death when the truth started coming out.

Following her murder, one of her close friends said “now I understand why she was complaining of depression and suicidal thoughts.” We did not know she was going through a lot just to keep her marriage ship sailing.

Travelling abroad to further her studies was just a facade to keep her sanity as her husband once brought out a machete during a fight with her but for the timely intervention of neighbours, things could have ended in disaster.

She had informed us she would be returning to Nigeria. In fact, she asked one of our mutual friends to help her book a flight to Port Harcourt.

So, it came as a surprise when we found out she arrived in Nigeria on Thursday, March 31, and was killed at about 1 am the following day April 1.

The president of our group who lives in the neighborhood of the Ogudoros later claimed that the husband, Ben Ogudoro, had made several attempts to sell off the property in which they reside but only to discover that it was the wife’s name that was on the C of O.

He became angry even though it was clear that the property belonged to the wife. She also got him a job using her connections.

When Chinyere arrived last week Thursday at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, her brother, Ifeanyi Joseph, went to pick her to the house.

The husband, according to their neighbours, was busy drinking at a nearby beer parlour when she got home. Meeting his wife, an argument ensued, and in order to prevent another physical assault, they shut the door against him.

Enraged with fury, he demanded why should they close the door, what were they talking about that warranted them shutting the door.

 He waited till they were asleep at night, he quietly entered their bedroom, poured petrol on the mattresses and floor as well as their bodies, set them aflame, and quickly banged the door behind him with lock and key. He then ran out and started raising a false alarm of accidental fire explosion.

Chinyere managed to pick her phone to call but could not because she suffered asphyxiation before she was burnt totally beyond recognition.

Meanwhile, Chinyere’s younger and only brother who got married some months ago managed to pull the door down while still burning.

He was the one who narrated everything that happened to the neighbours who had gathered to help the burning victims. He was quoted as saying, “My in-law, what did we do to you to deserve this kind of judgement? Why did you set us on fire?”

He was able to do some video and audio recordings with his phone while the incident was going on.

He was then rushed to a nearby hospital where he later gave up the ghost in the afternoon of the same day. His phone had since been retrieved by the police to help in the course of the investigation.