Marinus Iwuchukwu: Nigerian Professor stabbed by wife in the U.S died of mass bleeding – Allegheny Police tells Neusroom
Colleagues and friends of Marinus Chijioke Iwuchukwu are mourning the death of the Nigerian lecturer who was found dead in his house in the United States on Tuesday, January 17, 2023.
The Allegheny County Police, in Pittsburgh , United States, said they received a call by a ‘yet to be identified person’ to check the well-being of Marinus Iwuchukwu, and a woman identified as Charce Dunn, after an alleged “domestic disturbance” around 10 am on Tuesday, January 17, 2023. Iwuchukwu, 59, and the woman were later found dead by a SWAT team who made entry into the house.
Before his death, Iwuchukwu,a Nigerian-born academia, was an Associate Professor of Theology at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, USA.
Lieutenant Venerando Costa, of the Allegheny County Police, told Neusroom on Wednesday, January 18, 2023, that Iwuchukwu died as a result of homicide.
“Cause of (Iwuchukwu’s) death was mass bleeding from stab wounds to the arm and leg,” Costa said in an email sent to Neusroom.
Born in Nigeria, Iwuchukwu was raised as a Catholic in Kano, a Northern State in Nigeria where Islam is the predominant religion.
After his Primary and Secondary School education in Northern Nigeria, he gained admission to the University of Ibadan, in the Southwestern part of Nigeria, where he obtained a Diploma in Religious Studies.After obtaining a Bachelor’s degree from Urbanian University, in Rome, Italy, in 1999, Iwuchukwu returned to Nigeria and switched to media when he attended Media Service Centre, Kaduna in 1992. Four years later, already lecturing at the Federal College of Education, Kano, he obtained his Post-Graduate Diploma in Education from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. For his Master’s, Iwuchukwu went on to study Religious Journalism, a blend between his religious and media qualifications, at Marquette University, USA.
After The September 11, 2011, terrorist attack on the U.S , which killed nearly 3000 people Iwuchukwu questioned how knowledgeable journalists that cover religious-related violence are vast in the area.
“You know, you sent journalists to cover beats on politics, on economics, and other major disciplines, and you made sure they are people who had at least a robust understanding and are well-educated and well-versed in the area. But when it comes to journalists who cover religion, oftentimes they sent the rookie, just to make sure somebody went there to report,” he said in an interview in 2017.
To find a “connection between religion and violence and how we could make it less violent,” Iwuchukwu enrolled for a PhD in Theology and Society and graduated in 2008.
He began his full-time teaching career at the Faculty of Theology Department, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in August 2008, where he taught Judaism, Christianity and Islam , Building Bridges: Inclusive Religious Pluralism and Dialogue , among other subjects, in his quest to find answers to religious-related violence, help different religious adherers become more interactive and stop “all unnecessary conflicts.”
His teaching experience spread across Nigeria. Between 1992 to May 2003, Iwuchukwu had a full-time position with the Federal College of Education, Kano, Nigeria.
Aside from several journal publications, research work, and book reviews, Iwuchukwu is the author of Muslim-Christain Dialogue in Postcolonial Nigeria: The Challenges of Inclusive Cultural and Religious Pluralism published in 2013.
His death comes four years after Gbolade Ejemai, a 30-year-old Nigerian medical student was killed in a suspected homicide by Victoria Popvrako, a 36-year-old mother of two. It was alleged that Popvrako, who was in a relationship with Ejemai, connived with his father to murder him after a heated argument.
Reacting to the demise of Marinus Iwuchukwu, Gabriel Welsch, Duquesne Catholic University spokesperson Said:
“This is a tragedy for all involved and our thoughts and prayers are with Professor Iwuchukwu’s colleagues, students, friends, and loved ones.”
