Body of missing woman found in septic tank

Relatives and police were last night scrambling for answers after the body of a woman believed to have been abducted by state security forces early this year, was found dead in a septic tank at her marital home in Munyonyo, a Kampala suburb.

Only the skin had peeled off when police retrieved the slightly decomposed body on Wednesday, this week, raising the possibility that Mary Immaculate Blessing Onebe, the wife of auditor Francis Onebe, died not long ago.

The mystery is about the cause of her death as well as how the corpse was secretly moved and plunged into the family septic tank nine months after she disappeared while returning from shopping groceries. 

A man, who witnessed the police operation to retrieve the body, told this newspaper, on condition of anonymity, that a mark of a deep cut was visible on the neck.

Another onlooker said the blindfolded corpse was placed in a body bag and heavy stones tied to the chest in what appeared a way to increase its weight for it to sink to the bottom of the septic tank.

Police took the body for autopsy at City Mortuary in Mulago.

Investigators were looking at the possibility of a murder most foul, a source close to the inquiries said last night.

Eight scene of crime officers and senior homicide investigators – five from Kabalagala Police Station, where the case of Blessing’s disappearance was reported, and three from the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) headquarters in Kibuli – yesterday combed the family house on Dr Kaggwa Rise in Munyonyo and questioned members for about eight hours in search for clues.

Police yesterday returned to the purported scene of crime a day after retrieving the body of Blessing, this time with a septic pump truck to vacuum up the sludge and scum in the hope of finding implements used to kill the sexagenarian.

They cordoned off the premises, turning away curious residents of the upscale city outskirt and a battery of journalists charged to cover the mystery story.

Mr James Oriokoti, a friend of Francis Onebe, yesterday hurried to his residence to ascertain what had happened to him and his family.

“’We heard this morning through social Media that police recovered the body of the late Immaculate from the septic tank inside his [residence]. We could not get him on phone; so, we decided to come and speak to him and console him, but we were bounced back by the security saying that it’s now a crime scene,” he said.

When Blessing Asio vanished on January 6, the husband Francis Onebe, a founder and managing partner of Price and King certified public accountants, told NTV-Uganda that the circumstances were beyond comprehension.

The wife had gone to buy food from a nearby vendor and a Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) camera footage at a nearby Gaz fuel station showed her trudge home at dusk, with groceries in hand, and being followed by a lady in black before vanishing near van of the dreaded ‘drone’ type.

“I have done everything possible that a man can do to trace his wife. My children are asking me, ‘daddy, is mummy dead or alive?’ I said I don’t know. When the security people who are investigating this saw her, they then said, ‘mzee, don’t lose hope. Your mama is with security’,” he said then.

He added: “If they have killed her, then let them give me the body, I bury because I am being tormented. If she is alive, let me at least talk to her and that is all because I am being tormented so much.”

Their daughter, Ivy Inapo, told NTV that sometimes she wondered if her mother thought they had “forgotten” her. 

“She doesn’t know we are looking for her and she is [likely] worried about the emotional trauma we are going through as a family. When it rains, I worry; is she sleeping on the cold floor? Is she warm, does she even have a blanket? Where is she now?”

However, the turn of events over the past fortnight, particularly this week, nine months after the emotional outpouring, is one that raises more questions than it answers about the danger that has taken Blessing’s life.

For instance, police say the family guard – one whose identity has not been revealed, but was from Pentagon Security Ltd, founded by Blessing who doubled as the chief executive – disappeared around the same time of her abduction on January 6.

Pentagon security firm rebranded from Protectorate Security Services Ltd.

Mr Muhammad Kato, the driver to Francis Onebe, yesterday said the run-away guard showed up at the Munyonyo home unannounced and scaled the perimetre wall fence.

The successor guard, also from Pentagon Security Services Ltd, then spotted him hiding in a corner latrine close to the septic tank upon which he telephoned police before alerting Mr Onebe, the home owner and his employer.

It remained unclear why the guard on Tuesday elected to notify law enforcement before his master.

According to sources close to the investigations, police then arrested the ex-guard whom they questioned about Blessing’s whereabouts and afterwards invited Mr Onebe to the CID headquarters in Kibuli.

The former guard reportedly informed police that Mr Onebe knew about what happened to his wife, whose body was dumped in a septic tank at their Munyonyo residence.

Police then placed the duo in separate cars and drove them to the home where the septic tank was opened and Blessing’s decomposing body was found. It was retrieved on Wednesday.

“The new security guard of Pentagon security services is the one who saw him (ex-guard) locked inside the toilet and then called police and informed his boss as well. We hope that the former security guard has more information because from the time the woman went missing, he also went and disappeared,” Onebe’s driver Kato said.

Upon retrieving the body, detectives promised to provide more information to the family about the investigations and its outcomes at a later stage.

Separately, Mr Luke Owoyesigire, the Kampala Metropolitan police deputy spokesperson, confirmed with that Onebe was with detectives helping in the open-ended inquiries about the suspected murder of Blessing whom he had reported missing early this year.

Mr Owoyesigire said they got hold of Mr Onebe after police received intelligence that he planned to fly out of the country after learning about the arrest by police of their ex-guard who was on duty when Blessing was abducted.

About the case

What we know

•Ex-guard at the residence of Immaculate Blessing and Francis Onebe vanished about the same time of Blessing’s abduction on January 6, 2021.

•Police are holding Mr Onebe, who had reported to police at Kabalagala station that his wife was missing, to help with inquiries after their former guard alleged that the husband was aware what happened to the wife.

•Scene of Crime Officers and Homecide experts retrieved the body of Mary Immaculate Blessing Asio, who was wed to her husband Onebe, in a septic tank at the corner of the couple’s marital home on Dr Kaggwa Rise in Munyonyo, an upscale Kampala outskirt.

Unanswered questions

•How did the body of Blessing, caught on Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) camera to have been abducted allegedly by security forces and driven away in a van, nicknamed for its speed as Drone, end up in a septic tank at their marital residence?

•Where was Blessing kept since her disappearance, when was she exactly killed, since her body is slightly decomposed, who could have killed her and why?

•Why did the family’s ex-guard vanish in January when Blessing was abducted, where was he before he showed up roughly a fortnight ago, why did he appear, why did his successor call police before notifying his employer that the former had had showed up?

What we reported on missing case

“When Mary Immaculate Blessing Onebe, 62, disappeared on January 6, it was at the height of abductions of civilians taken away in high-speed vans nicknamed drones. The grab-bundle-flee operations were blamed on state security forces. After months of fruitless search and promises by police, the decomposing body of Blessing was, to the shock of family and public, found in a septic tank at her marital home in Munyonyo, a Kampala suburb. Blessing’s husband, Francis Onebe, and daughter, Ivy Inap, recounted their anxiety and traumatic experiences in an interview with NTV’s Patrick Ssenyondo, which aired on March 2.

 Francis Onebe, husband

 “I saw light in my room and I asked the askari [security guard], ‘where is mama (my wife)’? He told me that that mama had gone to buy irish potatoes across the road.

When we reached the main road, which is turning into my home, I told him to go to the kiosk where mama normally buys her food from. So, after about three [to] four minutes, I see the askari come back with things that mama had bought.”

I have done everything possible that a man can do to trace his wife. My children are asking me, ‘daddy, is mummy dead or alive?’ I said I don’t know.

When the security people, who are investigating this saw her, they then said, ‘mzee, don’t lose hope’. Your mama is with security. We stayed there from around 9am to about 6pm because they were saying they were now being brought in front of the military tribunal. At 6pm, this guy calls me and says, ‘no, this case will now come up for hearing on Monday’. She has pressure, she has arthritis, she has migraine headache...

If they have killed her, then let them give me the body, I bury because I am being tormented. If she is alive, let me at least talk to her and that is all because I am being tormented so much.”

Ivy Inapo, daughter

At times I wonder [if she is] out there wondering ‘have these people forgotten me?’ She doesn’t know we are looking for her and she is [likely] worried about the emotional trauma we are going through as a family.  When it rains, I worry; is she sleeping on the cold floor? Is she warm, does she even have a blanket? Where is she now?

We saw her [in a CCTV footage] walk from Gaz (fuel station) and there is a blow until when she gets to Reach Out. Now the Reach Out cameras show her crossing the road and she gets to the other side of the road and that is when a drone is passing by and then there was a lady trailing her. When she crosses to the other side of the road, there is a lady in black trailing her. And then there is a bright light.

That was the last time when we actually saw any movement. That drone must have may be parked and then this lady [in black] must have pushed her in because that was the last time we saw her.

We have tried several times to see if maybe we could get medicines to her, but the thing is we don’t know where she is.”

 Luke Owoyesigire,

Kampala Metropolitan Police Deputy Spokesman.

“The good thing is that the gentleman came up and opened a case at police of a missing spouse and I believe police [are] being all that is possible to ascertain the whereabouts of that person.”

Unnamed vendor

“She left the things behind. She told me that she was going to send my boy so that he can come and pick the things.”

Timeline

January 6

Mary Immaculate Blessing Asio, 62, is reportedly abducted and driven away in a van, nicknamed Drone, and mainly used by state security forces.

January

Family guard from Pentagon Security Services Ltd, owned by Blessing, disappears mysteriously.

March

Her husband Francis Onebe tells NTV in an interview aired on March 2 that he had notified police about the disappearance of his wife, was promised his “mama” was safe even though he searched everywhere in vain.

March

Kampala Metropolitan Police deputy spokesman Luke Owoyesigire says police would search for the missing Blessing now that Mr Onebe had filed the case at Kabalagala Police Station.

A fortnight ago (August)

Run-away ex-guard shows up unexpectedly and unannounced, scales over the perimeter and found hiding in a latrine near septic tank in which Blessing’s body would eventually be found, tied to heavy bricks and stones.

September 7

Former guard tells detectives that Onebe knew what happened to his wife. Police summon the husband to Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) headquarters in Kibuli where he finds his ex-guard. Police drive pair to the Munyonyo home and find Blessing’s slightly decomposed corpse.

September 8

Police retrieve Blessing’s body, take it for autopsy at the City Mortuary in Mulago.

September 8

Police take Onebe and his former guard to reconstruct the apparent scene of crime at the Munyonyo where detectives searched for more clues and questioned family members for about eight hours.