The family of a nursing student, Chiamaka Chilaka, has appealed to the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, to order a fresh investigation into her death, alleging that foul play may have been involved.
Chilaka, a student of the College of Nursing Sciences, Alor, Anambra State, reportedly died on June 14, 2026, in circumstances the family says remain unclear.
The family’s lawyer, Euphemia Eleonu, made the appeal on Wednesday during a press conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where she expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which the case had been handled by the Anambra State Police Command.
One of the major concerns raised by the family was the release of a key suspect, Ogochukwu Ugoeze, from police custody while, according to them, the investigation was still ongoing.
The family also accused the investigating officer, Supol Nwaije Francis of the State Criminal Investigation Department, Awka, and his superior, CSP Ayorinde David, head of the SCID Homicide Section, of alleged bias and compromise.
The allegations have not been independently verified.
According to Eleonu, the family has not been adequately briefed on the progress of the investigation since Chilaka’s death.
She therefore called for Francis and his team to step aside and for the case to be handed over to a fresh team of investigators.
The lawyer also demanded that the police preserve all physical, forensic, documentary and electronic evidence connected to the death, stressing that proper chain-of-custody procedures should be followed.
She further urged authorities to keep the deceased’s immediate family informed of developments, subject to legitimate investigative restrictions.
While calling for the rearrest of Ugoeze, Eleonu stressed that the family was not asking the police to pronounce anyone guilty, noting that criminal responsibility must ultimately be determined by a competent court based on admissible evidence.
She said the family simply wanted answers to key questions surrounding Chilaka’s death — what happened to her, how she died, who may have been responsible and whether all reasonable investigative leads had been exhausted.
The lawyer expressed confidence that the IGP would intervene and direct the Anambra police command to remove the current investigating team and commence a fresh probe.
Chilaka’s elder brother, Ikenna, also appealed to the police authorities for intervention, saying the family had been left devastated by her death.
He called for all suspects to be brought back into custody, insisting that the family was unhappy with the direction of the investigation and wanted justice for their sister.
The family maintained that its demand for a fresh probe was aimed at ensuring that no possible lead was ignored and that the circumstances surrounding the nursing student’s death were fully established.
