On 22 September, 28-year-old Priscilla Ocheme visited a friend in the Lugbe area of Abuja. That Sunday marked the last time her family would see her alive.
According to Grace Ocheme, Priscilla’s older sister, the deceased had gone to visit an old male friend named Richard that fateful day. This was their first in-person meeting in 2024.
Accident or murder? These are the questions Priscilla’s family is left grappling with, given the suspicious circumstances surrounding her death.
Grace shared details of the incident during an Instagram Live session on Monday, revealing that Priscilla and Richard had attended Madonna University together, where they became friends. When Priscilla left Madonna in her second year to continue her studies at another private university, their friendship waned but later resumed.
According to Grace, while at Madonna, Priscilla abruptly returned home one day, insisting she no longer wanted to attend the school. She told her family, “If you don’t want me to die, don’t force me to go back.” Grace later learned from her brother that Richard was somehow involved in her decision to leave, though no further details were given.
Grace had always been wary of Richard and had warned her sister to stop engaging with him. In August, when Priscilla’s phone rang and she saw it was Richard calling, she voiced her concerns, telling Priscilla she had a bad feeling about him and advising her to cut ties.
Despite their history of estrangement, Priscilla had reconnected with Richard, though on previous occasions, she had always been accompanied by her younger brother when visiting him. However, on 22 September, she went alone but made sure to inform her brother.
“Richard had visited our house when Priscilla was still at Madonna, and even his mother once expressed an interest in having Priscilla as a daughter-in-law,” Grace recounted. On that Sunday, Priscilla had acted strangely before visiting Richard. Grace spoke to her sister multiple times throughout the day, with their last conversation occurring around 5:00 pm while Priscilla was still at Richard’s house. At 8:00 pm, Priscilla sent Grace a message asking for N10,000. Distracted, Grace didn’t immediately realise her sister was still at Richard’s place.
By the next morning, when Grace noticed the money transfer had been reversed, she sent the funds again but received no response from Priscilla. Concerned, she went to check on her mother, who revealed that Priscilla had not returned home.
Grace and her brother tried contacting Richard, who claimed that Priscilla had left his house around 9:14 pm on Sunday. He said that while he was out picking up food, he saw someone who looked like Priscilla on a motorcycle and messaged her to confirm if it was her. She responded that she had already left.
Suspicious of Richard’s behaviour, especially since he allowed her to leave alone in the rain, Grace and her family began to worry. On Monday, a family member received a call from a stranger using one of Priscilla’s numbers, stating that the phone’s owner had been in an accident.
When the family contacted the police, they were initially told there was no record of an accident. However, at a later station, it was confirmed that a woman had been involved in an accident near Richard’s home. Priscilla had been brought to the hospital unconscious and later died. Oddly, her phone, gold chain, smart watch, and power bank were missing, though her clothing was intact.
The family started to suspect foul play, especially when the police could not provide any details about the good Samaritans who reportedly took Priscilla to the hospital. They later discovered that someone was using her phone after her death. A man who answered one of their calls admitted to charging the phone and making calls with it.
The family is now seeking justice, frustrated by the lack of information from the police and Richard’s suspicious behaviour. They have called for an autopsy to determine the cause of Priscilla’s death, though the process has been delayed, and the police have released Richard without conducting the autopsy.
