A Police Inspector, Mr Ugochukwu Emeharam, has appealed to well-meaning Nigerians and lovers of humanity to assist him to raise about N1 million to offset the hospital bill of his 24-year-old daughter who died of breast cancer in March 2025.
Emeharam, who is attached to the Works Department of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Imo Police Command, said the hospital has refused to release his daughter’s remains because of an outstanding N593,640 debt. Meanwhile, he said, the mortuary bill had as at January 29, 2025, exceeded N350,000.
The police officer, while narrating his ordeal to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Owerri, said his daughter, Chisom, was diagnosed with advanced stage breast cancer in late 2024.
He explained that, confused, and based on advice from family and friends, he took Chisom to several unorthodox treatment centres, before she was eventually settling for the Federal Teaching Hospital, Owerri, on Jan. 27, 2025.
According to him, he spent over N3.5 million in efforts to save his daughter’s life, funds he said were loans from commercial and non-commercial banks, as well as from the sale of his personal effects.
Emeharam said that in spite of all efforts, Chisom succumbed to the illness in March 2025, adding that his current financial condition had made it impossible for him to offset her medical expenses, let alone give her a decent burial.
“I had to secure the loans because I needed money to foot bills accruing from the oxygen and chemotherapy sessions.
“The money for oxygen, the chemotherapy treatment and some drugs proscribed for her became so much for me to bear,” he explained.
The police officer said the loans were currently being deducted from his salary monthly, rendering him with nothing left to feed his family and aged parents.
“How can a father find peace when his child’s corpse is trapped in a mortuary for nearly 11 months by mounting bills.
“Her spirit appears to me telling me she’s tired and wants to rest.
“Can you imagine the pain of a father talking to the corpse of his daughter.
“Each time I speak to her remains, I return home feeling utterly broken and defeated,” he said.
The officer said he has since realized that he needed help from the public, as efforts to get help from the police command and the state government have yet to yield the desired results.
He said members of his community once supported him during the treatment of his late daughter “but now they await for a burial date I cannot provide because of mounting debts.
“If I have offended anyone, they should please forgive me,” he begged, saying “I just want to be able to retrieve my daughter’s body and bring the sad and traumatic chapter to a close.
“It is a simple wish for a father who has already lost his property, his livelihood, and his child,” he grieved.
Medical reports from the Federal Teaching Hospital Owerri corroborated Emeharam’s claims, detailing the breast cancer management and the debt incurred.
