The 35-year-old, who died when his househelp hit him on the head with a pestle during a fight that ensued after an argument at his residence on July 15, was buried on Tuesday.
His burial attracted members of the university community, who described him as a cool-headed fellow.
The mother of the deceased, Dr Ifeyinwa Anolue, who is also the Secretary, College of Postgraduate Studies, UNIZIK, lamented the death of her son, saying that her sadness was that her son died hungry.
She said, “He was my last son. It was not the first time the househelp had done something wrong, but we always forgave him. He had once been apprehended stealing rods and was beaten by security guards, but we intervened.
“He had also stolen in our house, but he wrote an undertaking never to do so and begged us. My son Chima (the deceased) once urged us to send the boy away before he got us into trouble.
“We went for a burial on Thursday. Then, on Friday night, I got a call from my second son saying there was a crisis. He asked us to start praying as the news he got from Awka was that Chima was in critical condition and had been rushed to the hospital.
“It turned out that my son was attacked and killed by our househelp. I later visited the police station and requested to see Ifesi (the suspect) to know why he killed my son.
She added, “He (house help) said what happened was that Chima told him to boil rice for him and slapped him. I told him it was a lie. Chima cannot tell him to boil rice. He had never cooked for Chima since he came to our house. Chima could only send him to buy soft drinks across the street on rare occasions.
“My only sadness was that my son died hungry. The rice he was boiling before he was killed was never touched.”
