*How Emmanuella died— neighbors, lawyer.
The family of late Emmanuella Adaolisa Ogoegbunam has finally taken possession of the remains from the morgue of the Military Hospital in Port Harcourt for burial, according to a report by Opera News.
Emmanuella, whose real name was Emmanuel was a man, but lived as a woman and died in a tricycle accident, on Saturday, January 31, 2023,
along Aker Road in Rumuolumeni, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Mr. Sylvanus Nyeche, the lawyer to the man who drove the tricycle involved in the accident, told reporters in Port Harcourt that Emmanuella's father had transferred the remains to Anambra State.
According to Barr. Nyeche, his client, Peter Okon, and his family in compliance with the deceased father's request for help, bought a casket and hired an ambulance to convey the corpse.
"When we went to the police, they told us to let the two families go and talk," the lawyer said.
"The father abruptly announced, "I don't have money. I'm having some difficulty right now. We would appreciate it if you could help us transport the body to Anambra State."
"I spoke with my client's family, and they felt it was okay because it concerned human life. "We'll help them rent the ambulance that will transport the body, then we'll buy a coffin for them." And they carried that out.
Barr. Nyeche further said, "We hired an ambulance for N60,000, and we then purchased a coffin for N35,000," In total, it cost N95,000. They accepted my client's promise to do that but afterward indicated they wouldn't bury him right away.
"But they were only going to take him to another mortuary in Anambra State, they said. He will then formally inform the family that their son has passed away. He acknowledged that there was no set date for his funeral but added, "Then the family will immediately make appropriate burial arrangements."
How Emmanuella died.
Speaking earlier to journalists in Port Harcourt, Mr. Amah said “I feel very disappointed with the information making the rounds that my client (Mr. Peter Okon) hit the transgender person.
"The name of the transgender is Emmanuel Olisa Ogoegbulam from Anambra State.
“What happened is that the transgender was a passenger to the Keke driver. He was in the same tricycle as the driver.
"While the Keke driver was driving, there was a little girl with a wheelbarrow trying to cross the road. In an attempt for my client to avoid running into the little girl carrying the wheelbarrow and crossing the road, he has to swerve and in an attempt to swerve, unconsciously the transgender person fell out from the vehicle and fell into the drainage.
“It would also interest you to know that the female transgender was not the only one the driver was carrying. Unfortunately, the transgender was the only person who sustained injuries that later died. My client is hale and hearty and is in Police protective custody.
“Mr. Okon did all he could to protect everybody in the tricycle, but unfortunately the transgender made an attempt to jump out and fell into the drainage.
Aker road Rumuolumeni, Image: BBC.
“The Keke driver displayed the highest level of maturity by reporting himself to the Rumuolumeni Police Station at Iwofe when the incident occurred around Aker junction, Iwofe on the night of January 31st, 2023.
“The Keke driver is not detained but kept in protective custody so that the driver does not get hurt by persons sympathetic to the transgender who may not have known what transpired,” the lawyer said.
Reports said the late "Emmanuella Adaobi" was getting set to deceitfully marry a male partner in Church before the accident occurred.
According to a report by pmnewsnigeria, a man who was seen wearing traditional attire in a photograph with the deceased and speculated to be Emmanuella's partner denied marrying Emmanuella.
The man, a Port Harcourt-based lawyer told pmnewsnigeria that he met the dead Emmanuella at a traditional marriage ceremony, and "she" begged to take a photograph with him and he obliged.
Neighbors' account.
Emmanuella Adaolisa's neighbors said they were still shocked to learn that she was a transwoman.
They told the BBC that she moved into her apartment in Rumuolumeni, Port Harcourt River state in August/September 2022.
Adaolisa's neighbors said she used to wear an engagement ring and told them that she was planning to wed her fiance who lives abroad.
They said she had many friends, some of them males who used to visit her.
Tammy, who lives in an apartment opposite Emmanuella said the deceased transgender woman was well-behaved, lived peacefully with them, and participated in all activities in the compound and neighborhood.
Emmanuella's neighborhood, Image: BBC.
Another neighbor, Charles said Emmanuella Adaolisa lived a private life and never dried her clothes outside, but inside one of her rooms, although she had a washing machine parked outside on her veranda.
Charles said only one of her male friends, a regular visitor had come to the compound crying since she died.
Mbaa,( not his real name), another neighbor narrated that the accident that claimed Emmanuella's life happened a few blocks away from her Easy Vil Street and was reported to them by a plumber.
He said that when neighbors gathered at the scene, they met her lying on the ground, bleeding. They picked up her already broken phone from the gutter, retrieved the SIM card, and called some of the numbers on her contact list.
Mbaa said the first number they called was a doctor. He was told that the woman who owned the phone was involved in an accident, but the doctor responded that he knew the number to belong to a man, that they may have called the wrong number and then switched it off.
He said they called two other persons who gave the same response, saying they knew nobody that answered the name Adaolisa and switched off.
Mbaa said it was then that they remembered she was a member of St John's Catholic Church. So they informed the Church catechist, who with other members took her to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
He said that they were initially confused when the people they contacted on phone said that the phone number belonged to a man.
Under Nigerian law, same-sex sexual relationship is a crime that attracts the death penalty by stoning in the12 Northern states that adopted Sharia law.
In the Southern region and under secular criminal laws of Northern Nigeria, it carries a maximum punishment of 14 years imprisonment.
Known as the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, it criminalizes all forms of same-sex unions and same-sex marriage and prohibits all issues of LGBTQ throughout the country.
Who was Emmanuella Adaolisa?
On her Facebook and Instagram accounts:
@aliyahlakshmi, Emmanuella Adaolisa identified and introduced herself as a transwoman with the pronouns she/he.
Her posts celebrated LGBTQ issues and herself as a transwoman.
According to information on her social media page, she studied at the University of Port Harcourt for Rivers state.
Emmanuella worshipped at St. John’s Catholic Church, Rumuolumeni in the Iwofe area of Port Harcourt, Rivers state, where she was widely believed to be a female
lead soprano singer in the Church choir.
Following her death, her corpse was taken to a morgue where the attendants discovered that she was not the woman she had disguised to be.
According to the mortuary attendant, Emmanuella wore four male underwear and fake boobs to look like a woman.
Lifestyle.
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