The Lagos State Police Command has detained a 37-year-old celebrity auto dealer from Lagos known as IVD over the death of his wife Abimbola in the Lekki district of the state.
He was caught on Saturday, and he is with us, state police public relations officer Benjamin Hundeyin said to newsmen on Monday.
On Tuesday, Hundeyin said in a tweet on his Twitter page that IVD had been moved to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Yaba.
He tweeted, “Contrary to claims by family and friends that 37-year-old Ikechukwu Ogbonna aka IVD is on the run, he has been arrested and transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Yaba.
Recall that Ikechukwu and Bimbo had been married for 16 years and their marriage has been blessed with five children.
But, the marriage was greeted with disagreement and alleged domestic violence, which saw the couples separated and reunited recently, according to reports.
Bimbo, on Saturday, October 15, 2022, was trapped in a fire, which gutted their home in Megamound Estate, Lekki, Lagos, leaving her severely injured, while IVD escaped with minor burns.
She was rushed to a hospital, where she died afterwards.
Reacting to the death of his wife, the suspect posted a series of videos, alleging that the deceased had been violent to him and destroyed his property.
The suspect stated, “See what she did to me? She just hit me right now. This is me bleeding. I won’t take this.”
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’.”
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 at the hands of a husband to whom she dedicated her life.
“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.”