New Year tragedies: Girl, 22, slumps, dies giving testimony in church

 
•Generator fumes kill two as death toll rises in Plateau attack
…Ijaw mourn music star, wife
FROM GEORGE ONYEJIUWA, Owerri, DESMOND MGBOH, Kano, MARIAM ALESHINLOYE AGBOOLA, Jos and EMMANUEL OGOIGE, WARRI
Tragedies hit three families in Imo, Delta and Kano states New Year Day with five deaths even as the death toll in the attack by gunmen in Plateau State last Tuesday rose to four yesterday.
The Anozie family of the Umuoguta in Ndegwu community, Owerri-West, Imo State was thrown into mourning when Miss Ifeoma Anozie, aged 22, who had returned from Lagos to celebrate the yuletide with her kinsmen, collapsed and died in the church after giving her testimony of a good year.
The late Ifeoma had gone to St. John’s Anglican Church, Ndegwu with her family to thank God, but collapsed and died while trying to share her testimony of the outgone year with the rest of the congregation.
An eyewitness who doesn’t want to be named, said the deceased who was based in Lagos, came back home primarily to testify her achievements of last year before the tragedy. He said the young woman had hardly began her testimony and that after singing praises, she slumped and died right in front of the officiating clergy and the congregation, throwing the entire church into confusion. “It is a big tragedy for us at Ndegwu, the young woman was a promising individual, we don’t know exactly what caused her death, but we shall get to the bottom of it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the body has been deposited at the mortuary. Efforts to talk to the Anozie family at press time were not fruitful.
In Kano metropolis, carbon monoxide fumes from a generator on Wednesday suffocated two people and left a third unconscious.
The deceased included one Miss Felicia, aged 38, a divorcee from Ogugu in Olamuboro Local Government Area of Kogi State and a middle-aged man, Peter. Both corpses have since been deposited at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital in Kano.
A third person, Asaron, aged 15, believed to the son of the  deceased woman, was found unconscious in the same structure and was rushed to  Alpha Clinic in the state capital where doctors are battling to save his life.
The incident which was discovered at dawn, took neighbours by surprise as she was said to have shared the New Year felicitation with relatives and friends after the midnight crossover to 2014.
The victims may have slept off after the celebration of the New Year, without switching off the generator even as it was gathered that the doors and windows of the shop were all locked.
Sources told Daily Sun that while the family of the deceased woman had since evacuated her body, the relatives of the male victim are yet to show up.
The police spokesman, ASP Magaji Magiya , who confirmed the tragedy, said the police were contacted by their neighbours in the morning, noting that on arrival, they met two of them dead while one of them was unconscious.
Meanwhile, the death toll from the New Year eve gun  attack at Ankori gold  vilage, in Butura district of Bokkos local government area of Plateau State has risen to four. Two people, Coren Usman and Naomi Dajan, were on December 31 shot dead and 15 others wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on villagers who were ushering the New Year amid pomp at the Village Square. Two others were critcally injured and hospitalized.
Daily Sun learnt that the two persons who were hospitalized died while receiving teatment.
The Speaker of the House of Assembly, Titus Alas, who paid a condolence visit to the village during the burial of two of the victims, called on the citizens to be vigilant and secure themselves and their environment instead of relying solely on security agencies.
He reiterated the need for every village to have a vigilance group which would keep watch on  the villagers, urging for closer co-operation among the inhabitants so that strangers in their midst would easily be identified.
An elder of the village, Barnabas Mandoo, who had been receiving visitors  on  behalf of  the affected families, thanked the Speaker and those who have been calling to sympathize with them.
Also on New Year eve, the Ijaw music industry was thrown into mourning following the death of a popular Izon star, Augustine Kemepadeak and his wife, who lost their lives in a motor accident. Also allegedly killed was his friend, Okumagba Akieyefa, whose body was dismembered in the crash.
The accident which occurred along the ever-busy Delta Steel Company (DSC) expressway, attracted sympathizers who trooped to the scene for a possible rescue operation. The musician, aged 38 and wife, Fortune 35, were  returning from Aladja where they went to visit a friend at about 9:20pm.
Sources said their vehicle rammed into an electric pole and was badly damaged even as sympathizers tore the vehicle apart to remove the bodies. The couple and their  friend had gone to Aladja in the spirit of the Yuletide to have fun with their friend, but sources said they insisted that they must come back to Warri that night even as their host urged them to pass the night at Aladja as it was getting too late.
However, their corpses had been deposited at the Warri Central Hospital mortuary even though the cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained officially.
Reacting, the National President, Ijaw People Development Initiative, Comrade Austin Ozobo, described the death as a big blow to the Ijaw nation. “It is a big blow to us because we cherish the style of Augustine music and humor. He was very good and accepted by all Ijaw people. It is sad and very unfortunate as no one expected that he will die in such a way. No doubt, his death has created a vacuum in Ijaw music industry and Augustine will forever be remembered”, Ozobo lamented.