Since it hit the web, A Voice from the Grave has spread like wild fire, and everyone has his own opinion about the story. Today we received this comment from the solicitor of Kevin (the husband in the story). It is really important if you read the “letter” to also read this response which is not based on speculation. Please also note that the views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Pot Of Africa. Read and please share your thoughts on this issue.

“Exposing the Lie in the “Cry from the Grave – Ogo’s Story”

Pls read the attached before you make your comments.

Truth, like morning, becomes light with time. As the day goes by, and the sun shines in full resplendency, all the dark and gray corners will be exposed for all to see. Truth always has a face and readily exposes it. Truth is never ashamed to be identified. It stands on solid facts, identifiable and provable today, tomorrow and at any time. But lies, too afraid to be identified or exposed always shy away from the light. Liars are too afraid to be identified, too afraid to mention their names, too afraid and ashamed to be called out on their deviousness and dark motives that they hide, and do not want to be directly linked to their works or confronted with the truth.

It is very despicable, wicked and cries to the high heavens for any person to exploit the memories and name of the lovely and amiable Ogochukwu for a selfish purpose as the author of the article, “A Cry from the grave” has done. Yet, this title is apt and poignant in the sense that Ogochukwu would actually be crying because of the wickedness and selfish exploitation of her name this way.
Ogochukwu Cecilia Onuchukwu is yet to be buried. Her husband Kevin is still in deep mourning. Both families of the couple are still consulting with the elders and priest of the couple’s church for the burial arrangement. It is therefore the greatest disservice to the name and memory of Ogo for any person to put up such a scandalous piece of writing using her name as surrogate, even as she is yet to be buried.
Every person who knows the warm hearted and loving Ogo and the sedative relationship between her and Kevin would recoil and be shocked to read these unprintable things by this faceless author behind the mask.
Nothing strengthens an evil liar than to be allowed to operate or wander loose under cover of darkness. And nothing weakens his/her than shining a light of exposure on the facts and situation under consideration.
Exposing the lie and shaming the devil behind the twisted and dubious article and directly challenging him/her with facts that will smash their conceited innuendos and ugly hyperbole, is the aim of this piece.
We as a people have come a long way.Within the pristine serenity of our individual villages, a cry from the soul naturally evokes pity, sympathy for the afflicted and condemnation and opprobrium by the village or community against the initiator of the pain.But the condemnation never arises until facts are known.
The community always frowns at any person who wants to deceive them into condemning an innocent man in the court of public opinion. That village or community today is the expansive interconnected body of web-users. NairaLand apparently serves as the modern version of the village gathering, where, as in the days of old, people sit in the arena and match the facts against unsubstantiated and disparaging emotive accusations.
Whoever must have been behind this malicious libelous and unfounded fabrication, is taking the good natured reaction of the community, and the instinctive urge to pity and condemn arising from the better part of our human nature, for granted.
Like anyone else who is aware of the facts, I consider it my duty to ensure that the truth and not fabricated stories is told and toput the records straight. Posterity will not forgive us if we fail to perform this sacred duty of speaking out the truth in a situation like this.
Neither Kevin, his wife nor his innocent children deserve this unholy indignity by some desperadoes who see Ogochukwu’s death as an end of the road to their dairy farm.
1. Barely one week after the death of Ogochukwu on the laps of Mrs. Uzoamaka Otegbulu (her eldest sister), this woman heartlessly demanded the sum of Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira from Kelvin to purchase a wedding gown preparatory for the burial of her younger sister Kevin’s wife. This amount was to Kevin and every right thinking person very outrageous and as such was refused. Few days later, another demand was made by the same woman this time for her sister’s clothes, shoes and jewelries, she was asked to wait for the burial and to remember that her late younger sister had a daughter who would never grow up to know her mom, therefore these items need to be preserved for her to maintain some connection with her mom. In addition she is the rightful inheritor of these items.
2. It might interest those who care to know that Kevin’s wife had fifteen full boxes of clothes in their Lagos residence, eight full boxes of clothes in the village at Ihiala and another five full boxes at Eket where they now live. No wonder this woman could not wait to claim her inheritance from a younger sister. It is a well known fact that Kevin’s wife though a pharmacist never worked nor earned any income all through her married life and the husband never complained.
3. It needs be put on record that Kevin placed his wife on a monthly allowance of N100, 000.00 which had nothing to do with the family upkeep allowance from which she runs the home. Kevin’s magnanimous and near naive disposition was exploited by all around his wife’s family especially the sisters so much so that for Kevin to leave his son with his sister in law when traveling to US with his wife, the sister in law, Uzoamaka Otegbulu asked for a fee. She demanded the sum of N50, 000.00 which was paid to her on a monthly basis for the entire duration of their stay outside Nigeria. This was made a condition precedent for Uzoamaka, Ogochukwu’s elder sister, to harbour her little nephew for the period his parents were away on a medical trip to America.
4. Late Ogochuckwu’s health problem came to Kevin’s knowledge barely two months after their wedding. She suffered from a rare decease called ENDOMETROSIS, a life threatening condition, a fact known to the family but not disclosed to Kevin. It was while on admission at UNTH Enugu that she was referred to a hospital in Washington DC in the United States of America.
5. It was from friends and family members that Kevin was able to raise the sum of N15, 000,000.00 to enable him take his wife to the USA for this all important medical trip. No cent came from his in laws or from whoever the author of the present dubious article might be. From 2001 till date, his late wife had surgery in more than five different hospitals across the globe namely, South Africa, Washington DC, Houston TX, London. Medical records are available to substantiate all these.
6. For the first six years of their marriage, they did not have a child, yet neither Kevin nor any member of his family made an issue out of this temporary childlessness. As an ardent believer in God, Kevin knew they would certainly have kids at the fullness of time. To say there was pressure for kids is nothing but sheer malicious falsehood. Even if they were such pressure, what happened when the kids eventually arrived? Or is it that the pressure continued? Why is there still this talk about pressure arising from lack of kids?
7. Kevin was not just a caring husband he was a loving responsible husband and father to his late wife and beautiful children. As a demonstration of this, where ever he went in the line of duties, he went with his wife as a responsible family man as his pretty wife was his pride and his queen wherever he went. He never allowed her to touch anything more so when it was medically recommended that she should not be stressed nor allowed unnecessary exposure to the sun. Nannies were placed at beck and call, they ministered and dotted on her like the queen she was.
8. It is on impeccable records that Kevin spends on the average as medical bill the sum of N10,000,000.00 annually on the wife, this has been the case between the periods 2001 – 2012, when they were married as husband and wife. Receipts of payment are available to prove this.
9. For anyone to turn around crying wolf is to say the least a clear case of “if I can’t have it then nobody will.” The greatest problem Kevin ever had all through his short but eventful married life with Ogochukwu was the overbearing and domineering influence of his sisters- in- law on his plain minded wife, Ogochukwu even until her death.
10. All her sisters knew about Ogochukwu’s delicate medical history, they knew that she had received medical advice that for her to live, she was never to undertake any form of surgery. Yet the very person who encourage and eventually took her for surgery in her preferred hospital knew all these facts but preferred whatever financial or material gain she will make in the purchase of her sister’s burial dress – (a N750, 000.00) WEDDING GOWN and numerous boxes of dresses, shoes and jewelries to be inherited on Ogochukwu’s death. If this were not so, can anybody tell me what other reason a sister would have to encourage her younger sister to undertake a medical treatment the consequence of which is death?
11. In all his official documents, it is his wife, Ogochukwu, and not his elder brother, that Kevin designates as next of kin. Ogochukwu, Kevin’s amiable wife was always appreciative of her husband’s untiring efforts to keep her alive. She was also appreciative of her mother-in-law who, for the whole six years of their gruesome fight with the devil to keep her alive, continued to pray for Ogochukwu and request her parish priest to say mass for Ogochukwu. Her mother-in-law always used her own resources to pay dues, on behalf of Ogochukwu, to their home parish Catholic Women Organization (CWO) and other women groups in their village, Ihiala.
12. To say that Kevin called the wife a barren woman is clearly mischievous, as their problem was not fertility-related: they had two beautiful kids through a natural union before she died. Where does bareness come into this matter, except for mischief purposes?
13. Kevin provided for his wife the necessaries as well as the luxuries of life within and even beyond his means because sometimes he borrows to make up especially when it comes to medical treatment and payment of bills. As his pride, Kevin went out of his way to buy for his wife a brand new Lexus 450 car, provided nannies for her to minimize stress, place her on a regular monthly allowance, maintained her car, sent her dresses for laundry on weekly basis. He was always there for his wife, providing all her needs as any good husband will do.
14. Kevin’s caring disposition did not stop with his wife. It extended to his wife’s sisters, who never let them be as they kept interfering and meddling into the affairs of the couple until the death of Ogochukwu whose loyalty to her family and sisters was unassailable if not unprecedented.
15. Ogochukwu was always there for her sisters providing them with endless supplies of dresses, shoes and jewelries as well as numerous forms of support. Is there any wonder therefore why someone or some persons will now assume the position of Ogochukwu who is yet to be buried to cry foul from the grave?
16. In the entire 12 years of their marriage, his sole priority was to save the life of his wife. During this period, Kevin spent well above N80, 000,000.00(Eighty Million Naira, with documented hospital receipts), to keep his wife alive. He was never reluctant in doing this from beginning to the end. His wife attested to this fact in various forums.
17. Kevin is a man who reasons before he talks and acts. He is not given to acting on impulse and sentiments; he is not a man of violence. If there is anybody liable to complicity in the death of Ogochukwu, it is the very person who not only encouraged her, but also took her to the hospital and signed the papers to go through surgical operation against earlier medical advice and without Ogochukwu’s husband’s consent. It is very sad that Uzoamaka Otegbulu encouraged Ogochukwu to undertake surgery against medical advice, authorized the doctor to go ahead and perform surgery on the sister without recourse to Ogochukwu’s husband.
This same person who did all the above was the same who called Kevin to inform him that his wife had died. It was this same person who accused the doctor and Kevin of killing Ogochukwu.
18. In Nov. 2011, Ogochukwu was to go to the USA for routine medical check-up but she was denied visa by the US Embassy in Nigeria. Reason for this was an alleged violation of immigration regulations “stay -back in 2001. How did this happen? Ogochukwu had on that previous visit stayed with her brother, Anthony Onugu, and because of her health condition pleaded with her brother to help file her immigration papers for extension of stay. His brother Anthony reportedly lied that he had done that when he never did. Ogochukwu was thus stopped from entering USA when it mattered most – courtesy of Anthony Onugu, her blood brother.
19. Kevin contacted a lawyer one Mr. Fragomen, an immigration lawyer to resolve the issues, the immigration problem was on-going before Ogochukwu was taken away from Kevin on the 27th day Feb., 2012. This explains why Ogochukwu did not go to America for medical check-up in Nov.2011.

20. In January2012, Kevin suggested a trip to India where the option of alternative medicine could be explored, since – based on the advice of Ogochukwu’s American doctors – surgery was out of the question. Ogochukwu agreed to go to India, but her sister, Uzoamaka, decided otherwise expressing a preference that her sister be taken to Wellington Hospital in London. When Kevin contacted Ogochukwu’s larger family comprising of her mother, brothers and sisters, Uzoamaka had already influenced them and they all opted for and insisted it must be London or nowhere else. For peace to reign, Kevin agreed.
21. Kevin provided the N3, 000,000 (Three Million Naira) and 5,000 pounds for his wife’s trip to London. He also made arrangements for her to stay with his cousin, a medical doctor who is also married to a medical doctor. Ogochukwu, however, did not stay there because according to her, Uzoamaka instructed her not to stay there that she already had a place for Ogochukwu in her own friend’s house where she would pay 80pounds per day of her stay. This was in preference to staying with Kevin’s cousin’s house where everything would be free including medical advice. We can all see the level of influence the sisters had on Ogochukwu and how loyal she was to them.
22. The 80 pounds per night was not part of the N3, 000,000 (Three Million Naira) and 5,000 pounds already given to Ogochukwu before she left for London. This was later paid through borrowing from friends of Kevin.
23. Ogochukwu called from London to inform the husband that her doctor said her condition was no emergency requiring surgery. The doctor according to her still recommended surgery there in London but sought the husband’s consent which Kevin declined to give following an earlier warning by American doctors that any further surgery on her would lead to death. Ogochukwu accepted and drugs where given her to control the fluid in her lungs. She left London and came back to Nigeria.
24. On her return, she called all her in-laws to inform them she was back and not in any danger whatsoever. She would not have done this if there were issues between her and her in-laws. To paint the picture as otherwise is nothing but untruth.
25. To Ogochukwu’s mother-in-law her name was “Ada-eze” (Princess). It was only once that Kevin’s mother paid them a visit for the whole period of their marriage because most of the time Ogochukwu was staying abroad for one reason or the other.
26.How on earth would any sane mind think or believe that Kevin by his status would not give priority attention to his children when many other people’s children are on his scholarship? For his children, it is the best or nothing. Till today, the home teacher employed for the children are still on duty in his home with the children. This home teacher is alive and can testify.
27. Even if Ogochukwu’s car was sold, does that mean she had no cars in her name for use or the husband’s car for use? If her car was sold which car did Ogochukwu drive to Uyo Airport on her last trip to Lagos which she did not return?
The same RAV 4, is it not the same car that takes the kids to school till date? The Lexus which she prefers to use is it not still there in their home?
28. What is wrong in a wife buying shoes or dresses for the husband? Does that not show that they were relating well? Yet Ogochukwu did not buy any shoes for Kevin as she did not go to London for shopping but for medical treatment.
29. Clearly what killed Ogochukwu was not neglect on the part of the husband but the decision of her sisters that she must undertake surgery against the medical advice from her American doctor. Their reason for insisting that Ogochukwu should undertake such a fatal mission is yet to become clear. For now, Ogochukwu could not have spoken from the grave because she has not been buried.
30. Someone, somewhere is fighting dirty. Someone, somewhere who would have preferred that Ogochukwu died with Kevin to balance the loss could be behind this purported cry from the grave. Someone who feels that he or she may now enjoy a diminished attention and favour from Kevin might be behind this. Some desperate human beings who have something to hide are this Jacob’s voice we now hear, using Ogochukwu as smokescreen.
31. This is one of those instances we all wish that the dead could speak, even if momentarily. Reading the trash I found on the web with circumspection, I was left with no iota of doubt that some shameless mischief makers are at work. By all accounts, Ogochukwu could not, did not and would never have thought of any of the things put in print.

Whether Kevin has regard for his elder brother or his boss is beside the point as neither of the two persons hired the faceless author to be their advocate.
32. The last discussion Kevin had with his dear wife Ogochukwu was on the 27th of February, 2012 morning when he called to remind Ogochukwu of the American doctor’s advice that she should undertake no surgery concerning her health condition. He further advised her to come back that afternoon and a flight was booked for her.
33. Ogochukwu requested the booking to be changed till the next day Tuesday the 28th of February 2012. This was to enable her buy some wrappers in Lagos.
34. Ogochukwu did her Youth Service while in Kevin’s house as his wife, she never worked for a single day to earn an income and Kevin never for once complained as he faithfully believed in health before work and earning. It is only one who is healthy that can work and practice and enjoy his or her profession. Yet an evil entertainer threw all of Kevin’s love and affection, sacrifice and self denial to the garbage and prefers to make us believe that Kevin wanted his unemployed wife who he graciously placed on a monthly stipend to repay him 80 million Naira. Is Kevin supposed to start laughing or crying for this banal stupidity, insult, insensitivity and wicked accusation? And this accusation was levied by a faceless phantom in Kevin’s most challenging and agonizing moment – the time he is trying to come to terms that his sweetheart, with whom he had been labouring and dreaming together has been suddenly snatched away from him by the cold hand of Death.
35. It is clear that what the faceless author set out to achieve was to subject Kevin to the greatest indignity, tarnish his reputation and ruin his career. Otherwise, what efforts did the author make to hear from the other side in line with the principles of fair hearing? The author has neither protected Ogochukwu’s interest, nor that of the children. The author only succeeded in venting his or her frustration and veiled sense of loss on the innocent.
36. Time and events will unmask this agent of the Devil. I say again, Truth, like morning, will become light with time and liars will run and hide from its excruciating resplendency.
37. I therefore urge every reader to join me in challenging the author of that spurious article to come forward and deny the above facts.
I am a solicitor to Kevin, and it is on his instruction that I write this rejoinder.