Police arrest Lagos car dealer over wife’s death

The Lagos State Police Command has confirmed the arrest of a 37-year-old Lagos car dealer, Ikechukwu Ogbonna, aka IVD, over the death of his wife, Abimbola, in the Lekki area of the state.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed this to our correspondent on Monday.

He said, “He was arrested on Saturday, he’s with us.”

Ikechukwu and Abimbola had been married for 16 years, with the union blessed with five children.

The marriage, however, was fraught with disagreement and alleged domestic violence.

At the climax of their clash, the couple separated and were said to have reunited recently.

However, on Saturday, October 15, there was a fire incident at their Lekki mansion, as Abimbola was caught in the inferno.

She was rushed to a hospital, where she died.

The suspect had taken to his Instagram page to react to the death of his wife by posting a series of videos, alleging that the deceased had been violent to him and destroyed his property.

In one of the videos, the suspect was seen pointing at his bleeding head and saying “See what she did to me? She just hit me right now. This is me bleeding. I won’t take this.”

In another video, the suspect showed his damaged car while Abimbola was heard hurling insults at him in the background.

A post on his page partly read, “My greatest hurts will be at my funeral, everyone will be like, Bimbo was such a fantastic human, a clown, she’s that one person you had on your sos call, she had the biggest heart, very smart, she looked out for her family. Bobby yen yen yen, my corpse will wake up and shout ‘Shut up all of you and put me inside the ground let me be with the lord’.”

However, when our correspondent checked the suspect’s Instagram page on Monday, the posts had been deleted.

The deceased’s family, while demanding justice in a statement, said Ikenna was on the run.

The statement read in part, “As you may be aware, on Saturday, October 15, 2022, Abimbola Martins passed away after suffering fatal burns in a fire incident at her Lagos home. It has been a heartbreaking period for her parents, siblings and particularly her children. It is a tragedy that nobody should go through, especially in the painful manner her life was cut short and at the hands of a husband she dedicated her life to.

“Several times during the course of their marriage, we intervened in a bid to rescue her from a terrible situation that ultimately has now taken her life. Abimbola was a loving individual and a committed wife and mother, who put the desire that her children were raised by two parents before her own peace of mind, happiness and well-being.

“The perpetrator of this dastardly act, her husband of 16 years, Ikenna Darryl Ogbonna, an auto dealer widely known as IVD, is currently on the run, hoping to evade justice. We know that it won’t be forever.

“As the family tries to come to terms with this terrible loss, we want to appeal to members of the public to join us in demanding that justice is done.”

The police spokesperson, Hundeyin, however, said the suspect had been arrested and transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba.