Police in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have arrested and detained Peter Nwachukwu, husband of the popular gospel singer, Osinachi, over alleged death of his wife.
The family of the late Ekwueme singer had denied reports that she died of cancer, saying she had a blood clot after she was assaulted by her husband.
The spokesperson for the FCT police command, Josephine Adeh, who confirmed the arrest to Daily Trust, said, “He is now in our custody. The younger brother of the deceased reported the matter and we have commenced an investigation.”
Osinachi, 42, died on Friday after spending days at an undisclosed hospital in Abuja.
Read also: Chioma Jesus, Frank Edwards, Deborah Enenche Sad over Osinachi’s death
Osinachi’s sister, who is the first daughter of the family and was identified as Ms Favor Made, Sunday, said that Osinachi died as a result of a clot of blood in the chest.
She said the late singer suffered from a blood clot after the husband kicked her.
“We heard it was cancer that killed Osinachi. She did not die of cancer. The husband, Mr Peter Nwachukwu hit her with his leg on the chest. All this while, he had been beating her but my sister hid all that she was passing through from us,” she said, according to Daily Post.
She said the family had advised Osinachi to leave the marriage but she prayed that God would change her husband.
“We told her that they are not divorcing and that it’s just a separation. But she felt that God is against divorce. We told her that separation is not a sin but just for her to stay alive and take care of her children. She will always tell us to relax and that the man will change.
“So, when the man kicked her in the chest, she fell down and he took her to the hospital but he did not even tell us,” she said.
It was her friend who lives in Ebonyi State who called her twin sister because Osinachi had 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 the doctor what killed her and the doctor said that there were clusters of blood on her chest,” she revealed.
Made further stated that the doctor was not aware that Osinachi was kicked in the chest.
According to her, Peter had boasted that he was going to separate Osinachi from her twin sister.
She alleged that he had also stopped the siblings from being close or stopped the deceased singer from visiting her village, Isuochi in Abia State.
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,” Edwards said.
Osinachi, who was a lead singer at the Dunamis International Gospel Centre, shot into the limelight in 2017, with the hit song “Ekwueme”, which featured another singer, Prospa Ochimana.
