MAKURDI, Nigeria — The death of Doosuur Agbatar, a 29-year-old Nigerian woman who died on July 31, 2025, just 11 months after her wedding, has drawn sharp scrutiny following allegations of abuse, financial exploitation, and infidelity against her husband, Sefa Awen.
Her case, now under police review, has ignited conversations across Nigeria after friends and family released diaries, petitions, and hundreds of chat messages that they say document the troubled marriage.
Troubling Circumstances Around Her Death
According to a petition filed by the family and obtained by various news outlets, Mrs Awen had complained of chest pains and shortness of breath for a week prior to her death.
On the evening of July 31, her husband reportedly picked her up from her workplace at the International Market IDP camp in Makurdi.
Despite her pleading to be taken to a nearby hospital, just 600 metres away, he allegedly insisted on taking her home first.
By 8:19 p.m., Mr Awen told the petitioner’s wife over the phone that he had taken her to hospital.
But when her brother, Barrister Joe Agbatar, arrived before 9 p.m., she had already died. Medical staff confirmed she had been brought in lifeless.
Dr Uzer, a medical professional, told the family that he had received a call from Henrietta’s phone at 7:18 p.m. requesting a prescription.
Within 30 minutes, her body was presented to him. “Up till now, no explanation has been offered for what transpired between 6:30 p.m. and 7:40 p.m. when she was in Sefa’s care,” her friend Shamini Anase wrote in a Facebook post.
Evidence of Abuse and Exploitation
Family accounts and Henrietta’s personal diary paint a picture of sustained abuse.
According to the petition, she endured “psychological, emotional, and physical abuse, including ignoring her calls for help during a health crisis in March 2025.”
Her brother alleged in a Facebook post that Henrietta died from heart failure “due to the merciless snare she got roped into.”
The family claimed Mr Awen sold their mother’s Toyota Highlander SUV, collected through his wife, and used the proceeds to buy himself a Toyota Camry.
He also allegedly forced her to loan him N4 million from the NGO she led, partly for land acquisition.
Within weeks of the marriage, he pressured her to step down as executive director of the family NGO and hand control to him. Staff recalled him telling them: “Since you have always disrespected me, I have gone for the boss and now have her in my pocket.”
Infidelity Allegations
On September 5, Ms Anase, a friend of the deceased, shared screenshots of over 600 WhatsApp messages allegedly exchanged between Mr Awen and a married woman named Loveth, who was also a member of the wedding train.
She alleged the pair were intimate both the night before and after the wedding.
Henrietta reportedly discovered the chats after cloning her husband’s WhatsApp and developed high blood pressure three months into the marriage.
“She begged us not to even share this with her family members,” Ms Anase wrote, recounting how Henrietta confided in friends about the abuse and threats but feared the consequences of exposing them.
A Life Cut Short
Friends said Henrietta had planned to leave the marriage by mid-2025 and was preparing to further her studies abroad.
Her death, they argue, cannot be separated from the alleged exploitation and trauma she endured.
“The tragedy of that night cannot be separated from the life of abuse and betrayal Doosuur endured in the eleven months of marriage,” Ms Anase wrote.
The police have not issued a formal statement on the investigation. Mr Awen has not publicly responded to the allegations.
