Kenya Police Writes Nigerian Government Over Wife-Batterer Ambassador

Posted: May 27, 2011 - 16:19

By Saharareporters, New York

The Nigerian ambassador to Kenya, Dr Chijioke Wilcox Wigwe, is on the verge of going on an unprecedented trial in that country for assault, battery and cannibalism.  On May 11, Wigwe allegedly attacked his wife, Tess Iyi.
According to diplomatic sources, Kenya Police Commissioner Mathew Itwere has formally written to the Nigerian government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking the Nigerian government to waive the immunity of ambassador Wigwe to enable the prosecution to go ahead.
The Kenya media is awash with shocking images of deep cuts and bruises on Mrs. Wigwe’s face, neck, fingers and spine resulting from a quarrel with the ambassador.
A women rights group, FIDA Kenya, has also condemned Ambassador Wigwe as being unfit fit to be Nigeria’s High Commissioner in Kenya. 
Mrs. Wigwe, a lawyer who holds dual British and Nigerian citizenships, has also written to the Kenyan police asking that her husband be arrested for assaulting her, causing her serious bodily harm.

She explained that she decided to come out about her situation to show that domestic violence cuts across cultures, education and social standing. "I cannot keep quiet. I have kept quiet long enough," Mrs. Wigwe is quoted as saying.
She also told the Nairobi Star she was rescued by her 20-year-old son and 23-year-old daughter on May 11, and rushed her, bleeding profusely, to the hospital.  She was admitted to the Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi, where she was operated on and discharged on Sunday, May 15. She also said her doctors had advised her to be careful as the injuries to her lower back might lead to paralysis.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Wigwe, who doubles as Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the Seychelles and represents the country at the United Nations Environmental Programme and the UN Habitat in Nairobi, was today expected to play host to a four-day Nollywood roadshow and fair.  It is said to have been organised by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, the Nigerian Guild of Actors and the Nigerian High Commission.  It will culminate in a gala dinner on Sunday night.
The Nairobi Star was told by a lawyer acting for Mrs. Wigwe that they are demanding that Wigwe's diplomatic immunity be lifted so that he can face the law.
The couple is reported to have five children — four boys and a girl aged between 32 and 20 years, and five grandchildren.