By John Ikani
Police have arrested Peter Nwachukwu, the husband of a top Nigerian gospel singing star, Osinachi Nwachukwu, after she died on Friday in an Abuja hospital.
Mr Peter was arrested by officers of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command after family of the late singer formally filed a complaint with the police.
“He is now in our custody. The younger brother of the deceased reported the matter and we have commenced investigation,” Abuja Polce Command spokeswoman Josephine Adeh said.
The deceased singer’s elder sister, Ms. Favour Made, had earlier in an interview with Vanguard alleged that Osinachi was kicked in the chest by her husband Nwachukwu.
Ms Made said in the interview that her family had tried unsuccessfully to make her walk away from the marriage because of domestic violence.
“When the man kicked her on the chest, she fell down and he took her to the hospital but he did not even tell us,” Ms Made told Vanguard. “It was her friend who lives in Ebonyi state that called her twin sister, because Osinachi has a twin sister, to ask, ‘did your sister tell you that Peter hit her on the chest? the sister then told her no.
“It was the hitting on the chest that killed her. My brother had to ask doctor what killed her and doctor said that there were clusters of blood on her chest.”
Osinachi was one of Nigeria’s most popular gospel artists, with her voice described as “angelic”.
She featured on the 2017 hit gospel song Ekwueme, which has 71 million YouTube views.
The 42 year old lead singer at the Dunamis International Gospel Centre, Abuja, died on Friday after spending days at an undisclosed hospital in Abuja.
Her colleagues, via social media had also accused her husband of beating her.
In a live Instagram video, a popular singer, Frank Edwards, alleged that Osinachi’s husband abused her on several occasions.
“One time in a studio, this man slapped her just because she wanted to record the song in Igbo against his will. She does not do anything on her own.
“She would say, please beg my husband. She was at his mercy. I didn’t know the intensity of what she was going through; I didn’t know how somebody would be jealous of the wife he claimed to love.
“There are a lot of stories where people told her this and that, but what I know was that the control was too much. The other time somebody wanted me to get her for an event, and I contacted her, but she said ‘beg my husband’.
“She couldn’t even tell people what she was going through. I only got to know because Aunty Joy contacted me to promote her song. That was when I got a glimpse into what was happening,” Edward said.
Many Nigerians, especially Christians, have reacted with sorrow and anger to the news of her death.
Some have gone online to urge religious leaders not to advise church members to stay in abusive relationships. Domestic violence has also been trending on social media.
The popular church that previously employed Nwachukwu as lead singer, Dunamis International Gospel Centre, has not yet commented on her death.
It only shared a short video with that captured its founder and senior pastor, Dr. Paul Eneche teaching the congregation that it is better to be single and alive than to die in an abusive marriage.
Osinachi Nwachukwu leaves behind four children.
