STOP DROPPING CHIME'S NAME, WIDOW CRIES OUT
Widow to the late Christian Anayo Mgbeke and sister-in-law to Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State, Mrs Ngozi Anayo Mgbeke, has urged her husband's relations and others persecuting her since the death of her husband to leave Chime alone. Mrs Mgbete has been dragged to court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over allegations of obtaining money under false pretences, forgery and alteration of documents.
But the widow, speaking to newsmen yesterday in Enugu said her accusers should better accuse her squarely by saying that she stole her late husband's money, which was saved under the name, Christian Anayo Mgbeke and sons, than to rely on veiled allegations.
Mrs Mgbeke, a lawyer, disclosed that when her husband died in 2007 the members of family tried to abort her pregnancy by beating her up just as they have refused to see her and her two-year-old baby.
She expressed shock that her husband's relations and those supporting them could drop the name of the Enugu governor in domestic matter that happened before he became governor and long before he came to marry her sister, saying they should leave Chime alone and face her squarely.
Her words: 'The publications came as a surprise. It is a domestic issue; it does not concern the Enugu government in any way. The issue has been there even before this government came into being and before my sister married the governor. I lost my husband in April 2007 in an auto crash.'
The widow lamented that members of family of her husband were just trying to torment her, saying since the demise of her husband she had not had peace as they kept on troubling her.
'When my husband died they tried to take over his estate. I don't know why EFCC is accusing that I took the money that was in my husband's account. My husband died and I was pregnant; they didn't want me, they didn't want the pregnancy. I don't know what my husband did to them, I am not just comfortable discussing this thing.
'About the money; I applied to the court and got a letter of administration as the wife. Even the CCC (a construction company) mentioned that they were owing him. When he died the siblings went there behind me and the site manager asked them, is he married? We want to see the wife. And they now called me and I went to the place with Ekpere, one of my brother in-laws after the burial and they asked me to produce my marriage certificate which I did to show that I am the wife of this man and I was paid a cheque in my name. The cheque was written Ngozi Anayo Mgbeke, my personal name. What they paid me was about N2 million.
'But later on when I got the letter of administration from the court, I now went to Fidelity Bank and withdrew money from my husband's account. So, everything boils down to Christian Anayo Mgbeke's money and estate and that is what my mother-in-law and the children… it is funny and ridiculous to me. I didn't do any forgery. How will I forge to get money from my husband's account? They would have given the details in their publications, say forgery, N14 million fraud of taking money from her late husband's account. This would have made me happier than calling Sullivan Chime. Why should Sullivan Chime come into this?'
'They want to make it look as if I am taking government or duping people using government's name. If they said I took my husband's money I will be more comfortable with that, let the court decide. When I saw the allegation on N14 million fraud, I was amazed, why using the governor's name, why Sullivan, this is purely a domestic and family matter, if I stole from my husband's account or whatever why not say a widow stole from her husband's account, it will be a better caption, I am not comfortable in Sullivan's name being reported in this matter. He died in 2007, and they paid me in April\May 2007 and then my sister was not yet married to Sullivan, so why bringing in government into this?'