Patrick Okorie, the Nigerian singer better known as Patoranking, has lost Chioma, his sister and brother-in-law.
According to NAN, Joshua Ukandu, the police spokesperson in Ebonyi, said the incident occurred on August 25.
Ukandu said Chioma and George Onuabuchi, her husband, died as a result of a gas cylinder explosion in Abakaliki.
He said the explosion killed Patoranking’s sister in August, while her husband passed away earlier this month.
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The couple reportedly left behind their 3-year-old son after their death.
“It happened in the Waterworks area of Abakaliki on August 25,” Ukandu was quoted as saying.
“Residents living nearby alerted our personnel, who visited the scene, but the couple had already been taken to the hospital.
“Unfortunately, both have now passed away. The wife, Chioma, died in August, while the husband passed away this month, in September.
“We gathered that the wife was the younger sister of popular Nigerian Afrobeat singer, Patoranking.
“There aren’t many details available, as the victims did not survive to share their account of the event. The cause of death was a gas explosion, not an inverter explosion.”
A relative of the deceased couple reportedly described the incident as a “tragic loss for the family”.
“They were a young couple. They had only one child, a three-year-old son. I can’t say more than this. They are gone,” the relative said.
NAN