Security and health Experts in Glasgow, Scotland are battling to unravel the mystery surrounding the sudden death of a young Nigerian businessman, John Oguchukwu on May 10 2023.
John, owner of JP Stores Glasgow, whose 46th birthday anniversary was billed to take place in August 28 this year died in his sleep some hours after he returned from work.
Effort by his heartbroken wife, Paulene Oguchukwu (Phd) to wake him failed as the deceased did not respond to his usual telephone alarm. She subsequently discovered that her husband was breathless.
Amidst the confusion, Paulene alerted John’s elder Brother, Uchenna when effort by the Emergency Medical Team in Glasgow yielded no result, having failed to revive him.
The wife disclosed that though her husband had appointment to see his medical doctor at daybreak, he never had any sign of failing health.
According to her, John had executed his normal daily activities before he returned early in the morning on that fateful day.
An autopsy was conducted on the deceased at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital May 23 2023 but surprisingly, the cause of John’s death was uncertain.
Certifying this position, Doctor Ming Han Lim ordered further investigation on John’s body fluid, the result of which sources say could be released in six months’ time.
Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health, June 5, granted permission allowing the remains to be flown back home.
The Health Ministry relied on the assurances by James Down (in charge of the embalment) on May 24 2023 that the young John’s body does not pose any risk.
John who was awarded Master of Arts and Science (Msc.) in Business and Management by the University of Glasgow on 13 June 2014; also left two daughters: Jessica and Holy as well as a 15-year-old son from a lady-friend of Anambra state origin.
Amidst the disturbing incident, when the remains of the young man who is fondly called the ‘pet brother’ of the family arrived in Nigeria on June 10, 2023, the eldest sibling, Mathew Uwakwe collapsed and died in a nearby village.
Sources close to the family alleged that Mathew could not bear the reality of the death of their “pet brother” who unfortunately died at his prime.
Some family members at home who could not come to terms with the uncommon development had insisted that John was in a coma and would wake, only for Mathew to hear that John’s corpse had already arrived in Lagos.
A particular source further disclosed that though ‘Dee Mathew was sick, “we did not know who informed him that the late John’s body had been brought to Lagos and was billed to arrive in Imo state, their home state, the following day”.
Mathew who was said to have gone out of his house to recharge his telephone so that he could be abreast with the details of the unfolding developments, suddenly slumped and died while he waited for the unstable power supply in the village to be restored.
Meanwhile, shocked friends and well-wishers of the Oguchukwus across Nigeria and beyond have thrown their weight behind the bereaved family.
A call engineered by former Eze Ndi Igbo in Italy, Chief Clement Maduneme, Uruaku of Uruala, and the Ex-President of Anglophone Catholic Community, Padova, Chief Ferdinand Obiapuna sparked up a sustained support.
Erudite African Author and former Senior Correspondent of Business Day Newspaper, Abuja, Nnorom Oguchukwu says that he is short of words.
In a telephone call, he hinted that a funeral is being organized for their beloved brothers, Mathew and John next Friday, July 28 2023 in their Isunjaba hometown in Imo state.