Court Orders Autopsy On Remains Of Businessman Allegedly Killed By Soldiers

A Federal High Court in Owerri, Imo State, on Friday, ordered that an autopsy be carried out on the corpse of Noel Chigbu.

Chigbu, a businessman in Owerri, was allegedly shot dead on April 30, in Owerri, by suspected soldiers for allegedly violating a traffic rule.

The deceased's eldest brother and spokesperson for the family, Tobechi Chigbu, had told journalists that some soldiers had shot his brother dead on the day he took delivery of his new Toyota Camry car and was driving home at the close of work.

The distraught Tobechi had said that Noel was killed after dropping off his friend and was driving home.

He had said that the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations in the state was the one, who told the family that the soldiers said that they shot his brother died because he violated their checkpoint rule.

Tobechi had said, “Noel was one of my younger brothers. He would have been 39 on May 18, but unfortunately, he was shot dead on the day he took delivery of his new vehicle. His corpse was dumped at the Federal Medical Centre in Owerri by the soldiers, who killed him.”

On Friday, the presiding judge, Justice Maureen Onyetenu, ordered that a coroner’s inquest be carried out on the corpse which had been lying at the morgue of Federal Medical Centre in Owerri for seven months.